by Naveen Thukral (Reuters) The world’s top palm oil producers Indonesia and Malaysia may have to curb plans to channel more of the commodity into biodiesel as tumbling crude oil prices render the edible oil twice as expensive as its fossil fuel alternative.
Indonesia expects to raise the minimum bio content of gasoil in the country by a quarter to 20 percent in 2016, while Malaysia has said it plans a 10-percent blend, up from the 7-percent targetted in 2015.
They want to cut vegetable oil stockpiles that have swollen to millions of tonnes as record global output meets faltering demand, as well as reducing emissions that damage the environment.
But industry officials and analysts said they were sceptical about both countries’ plans, with crude oil prices plunging to 12-year lows, while palm oil gained 34 percent in the last quarter of 2015. READ MORE