JAKARTA, July 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the world’s most significant palm oil manufacturer, is evaluating fuel with a view to increasing to 40% from 35% the share of palm-oil blended into biodiesel next year, the energy ministry stated.

If executed, the B40 mandate could increase biodiesel consumption 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 might be ended up in December, so that full execution of B40 could be brought out in 2025,” energy ministry senior official Eniya Listiani Dewi said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association (APROBI) stated the market had the capacity to fulfill B40 demand, with installed capacity expected to rise to 20 million KL yearly next year from 18 million KL now.

“However we will need more basic materials to meet B40 demand,” Ernest Gunawan, the secretary general of APROBI informed Reuters on Wednesday.

The biodiesel market would require 13.9 million metric lots of crude palm oil to produce 16 million KL biodiesel next year, from the approximated 11 million lots required this year, he added.

Indonesia’s biggest palm oil association GAPKI said a decline in exports meant there would be adequate basic materials to supply the B40 required for now.

But the industry would require to evaluate “which one would be more valuable”, GAPKI chairman Eddy Martono stated, describing the possibility a boost in exports would make supplying the domestic market less practical.

oil output is estimated to reach 54.4 million heaps in 2024, a 2.26% boost from in 2015, while exports are anticipated to decline by 2.47% to 29.5 million heaps as domestic consumption increased, driven by biodiesel required.

The ministry had actually tested the biodiesel, blended with 40% of palm oil, on a train for the very first time previously today, while planning to test the B40 mix on farming equipment, power plants and in the shipping industry, it stated. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina and Dewi Kurniawati