Indonesia's December biodiesel production rises 7%, exports jump: trade body

Indonesia produced 1.243 million kiloliters (7.82 million barrels) of biodiesel in December, up 7.2% on the month, domestic trade association APROBI said Feb. 2.

Biodiesel output at the world's third-largest producer stood at 13.15 million kiloliters in 2023, up 11.3% from a year ago, APROBI data showed.

Exports, meanwhile, jumped 49.5% on the month to 14,251.88 kiloliters in December.

Jakarta increased the mandated percentage of palm oil-based biodiesel in its gas oil supply to 35% in February 2023, from an earlier 30% mandate in place since 2020.

The mandate, widely known as B35, was implemented nationwide in August 2023.

Local biodiesel consumption fell 926,714 kiloliters in December from 1.09 million kiloliters in November, APROBI said.

For 2024, the country's Energy and Mineral Resources ministry has raised its allocation for palm oil-based biodiesel to 13.41 million kiloliters, up 1.9% from 2023.

Platts assessed biodiesel FOB Southeast Asia at $933/mt Feb. 1, down 3.2% from Jan. 29, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed.

* All figures in million kiloliters

* Source: APROBI data

Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, likely consumed 11.9 million mt, or 26.6% of its total production, of the vegetable oil as a biodiesel feedstock in the marketing year 2022-23 (October-September), according to a US Foreign Agricultural Service report released August 2023.

For MY 2023-24, the agency expects Indonesia's industrial use of its palm oil supply to rise to 12.7 million mt, or 27.6% of its production for the year.