JAKARTA, July 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the world's most significant producer, is checking fuel with a view to increasing to 40% from 35% the share of palm-oil combined into biodiesel next year, the energy ministry stated.
If executed, the B40 required might increase biodiesel usage to up to 16 million kilolitres (KL) next year, the ministry said, from 13 million KL estimated to be consumed in 2024.
"We hope the trials could be ended up in December, so that full execution of B40 could be performed in 2025," energy ministry senior official Eniya Listiani Dewi stated in a statement on Tuesday.
The Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association (APROBI) said the market had the capacity to fulfill B40 demand, with set up capacity expected to increase to 20 million KL annually next year from 18 million KL now.
"However we will require more raw materials to fulfill B40 need," Ernest Gunawan, the secretary general of APROBI informed Reuters on Wednesday.
The biodiesel industry would require 13.9 million metric heaps of unrefined palm oil to produce 16 million KL biodiesel next year, from the approximated 11 million tons required this year, he added.
Indonesia's biggest palm oil association GAPKI stated a decrease in exports suggested there would suffice basic materials to provide the B40 required for now.
But the industry would require to evaluate "which one would be more valuable", GAPKI chairman Eddy Martono said, describing the possibility an increase in exports would make supplying the domestic market less viable.
Indonesia's palm oil output is approximated to reach 54.4 million tons in 2024, a 2.26% boost from last year, while exports are expected to decline by 2.47% to 29.5 million heaps as domestic usage increased, driven by biodiesel mandate.
The ministry had checked the biodiesel, blended with 40% of palm oil, on a train for the very first time earlier today, while preparing to evaluate the B40 mix on farming equipment, power plants and in the shipping market, it said. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina and Dewi Kurniawati
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Indonesia Plans Increase in Palm Oil based Biodiesel In 2025
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