JAKARTA, July 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the world’s biggest 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 said.

If carried out, the B40 required could increase biodiesel usage to up to 16 million kilolitres (KL) next year, the ministry stated, from 13 million KL approximated to be consumed in 2024.

“We hope the trials might be finished in December, so that full application of B40 might be carried out in 2025,” energy ministry senior main Eniya Listiani Dewi said in a declaration on Tuesday.

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

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

The biodiesel market would require 13.9 million metric lots of oil to produce 16 million KL biodiesel next year, from the approximated 11 million heaps needed this year, he included.

Indonesia’s most significant palm oil association GAPKI stated a decline in exports suggested there would be enough basic materials to provide the B40 mandate for now.

But the industry would require to assess “which one would be better”, GAPKI chairman Eddy Martono said, referring to the possibility an increase in exports would make supplying the domestic market less practical.

Indonesia’s palm oil output is estimated to reach 54.4 million tons in 2024, a 2.26% boost from last year, while exports are expected to decline by 2.47% to 29.5 million loads as domestic intake rose, 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 evaluate the B40 mix on agriculture equipment, power plants and in the shipping market, it said. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina and Dewi Kurniawati