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

If implemented, the B40 required could increase biodiesel usage 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 complete application 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) said the industry had the capability to fulfill B40 demand, with installed capability anticipated to rise to 20 million KL yearly next year from 18 million KL now.

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

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

Indonesia’s most significant palm oil association GAPKI stated a decrease in exports meant there would be adequate raw products to supply the B40 mandate for now.

But the industry would require to examine “which one would be better”, GAPKI chairman Eddy Martono stated, referring to the possibility a boost in exports would make providing the domestic market less viable.

Indonesia’s palm oil output is approximated to reach 54.4 million heaps in 2024, a 2.26% increase from in 2015, while exports are expected to decrease by 2.47% to 29.5 million lots as domestic usage rose, driven by biodiesel required.

The ministry had checked the biodiesel, mixed with 40% of palm oil, on a train for the very first time previously today, while preparing to test the B40 mix on agriculture machinery, power plants and in the shipping market, it said. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina and Dewi Kurniawati