Palm Biodiesel Price Will Remain The Same As Regular Diesel, Says Chin
The pump price of palm biodiesel will remain the same as regular diesel when the biodiesel blend is introduced here next year, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said Monday.
“When we introduce it on Feb 1 next year, the pump price for diesel will remain the same. If there is any burden of cost to be borne, it will be borne by the government,” he said.
Chin was speaking to reporters after giving a talk at Hap Seng Public Lecture Series titled “Palm Oil: Food or Biofuel? Policy Implications for the Future”.
It was jointly organised by Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, Hap Seng Plantations Holdings Bhd and Malaysian Mosaics Bhd.
Beginning next February, Malaysia will use the B5 blend (five per cent biodiesel with 95 per cent regular diesel) in government vehicles, followed by the industrial and transport sectors.
Chin said the blending of palm biodiesel ranging from two percent to five percent in the national diesel system has the potential to reduce palm oil stocks by between 200,000 and 500,000 tonnes per year.
“The move by the government is to help to maintain the commodity prices and prevent them from falling too low which will affect revenue for producers in particular and for the country in general,” he said.
Chin said as a major producer of palm oil, Malaysia has the advantage to supply the growing global demand for biofuels.
“Thus, the government will encourage and facilitate the establishment of plants for the production of biofuel for both local and export purposes.
“To date, Malaysia has approved a total of 91 licences for biofuel production. As of end-October, a total of 14 plants have started production with an installed capacity of 1.68 million tonnes of biodiesel.
“Last year, Malaysia produced 129,715 tonnes of palm-based methyl ester. Out of this amount, 95,013 tonnes valued at RM253.2 million were exported,” he said.
Chin said Malaysia would continue to promote the use of biofuels sourced from palm oil while ensuring sufficient supply was available for food uses.
“The use of palm-based biofuel will support palm oil prices and provide a reasonable income to oil palm agriculture, which in turn can also provide funds to support biodiesel programmes,” he said.
source : BERNAMA
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