Palm oil industry intends to increase biofuel output

Domestic palm oil producers, experts and potential investors will focus on biodiesel production, trade certification and increasing palm oil output during an international conference in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Palm oil industry representatives will urge these points to be addressed during the fifth annual International Conference and Exhibition on Palm Oil (ICEPO).

'What we need now is research, funded by the government, to harness palm oil full potential. We must not focus on palm oil [solely in its main form]; we also need to look at its wider potential,'Soedjai Kartasasmita, chairman of Indonesian Plantation Entrepreneurs Association (GPPI), said at an ICEPO press conference.

According to data from the Biofuel Producers Association (Aprobi), the predicted uptake for domestic biofuel in 2014 is 3 million kilolitres, approximately 2 million up from last year's figure.

Since 2011, Indonesia has implemented a palm oil production standard, Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO), which all producers are required to adhere to.