Indonesian biodiesel producers turn to China

Indonesian biodiesel producers are eyeing China as a new promising market amid negative sentiment in the European Union and the United states.

Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association (Aprobi) chairman MP Tumanggor stressed Thursday that their members could no longer rely on their exports to the US and European Union.

“Our production capacity reaches 11 million kiloliters per year, 4 million of which is absorbed by the domestic market. The remaining 7 million kiloliters are idle,” he said, adding that exports to European countries and the US account for just a portion.

The negative sentiment was sparked by an anti-dumping campaign from both the European Union and the US commercial trade association National Biodiesel Boards (NBB).

Aprobi secretary general Stanley Ma said that China was a potential market for Indonesian biodiesel because the country used B5 for its fuel, which consists of 5 percent biodiesel and 95 percent petroleum biodiesel. “China might need 9 million kiloliters of biodiesel a year. This could boost our exports,” he said.

The Indonesian government is reportedly set to send a team to China on June 16 in an attempt to boost biodiesel exports to the country.

Data from the association shows that in first quarter of this year, Indonesia produced 1.01 million kiloliters of biodiesel of which 761,519 kiloliters was absorbed by the domestic market.