KUALA LUMPUR: The government has urged industry players, especially companies involved in the logistics, plantation and manufacturing sectors to support its efforts in increasing the domestic palm oil consumption through the use of B10 biodiesel.
Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok said this was in line with its goal of helping smallholders who faced the issue of excess palm oil stocks.
On August this year, she said the ministry had held a consultation session with stakeholders on the implementation of B10 in the transportation sector and B5 in the industrial sector.
Subsequently, a B10 lab was held on September to further deliberate issues raised by the stakeholders, she added.
Present at the lab were over 60 representatives from government agencies, petroleum companies, vehicle manufactures, transport associations and manufacturer associations.
She said this after launching the initiative by FGV Holdings Bhd and Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) that pioneers the use of B10 for heavy duty tankers in Malaysia.
Kok said some companies including FGV had implemented B10 in their operations successfully.
“They had no issues in implementing it. It is proven successful. Even foreign countries such as Europe, China and India also use eco-friendly biodiesel.
“But the rate of consumption is still low, therefore we as one of the major producers of palm oil should play a role and take this advantage," she said.
FGV group president and chief executive officer Datuk Zakaria Arshad said it was now a good time for the government to reconsider the proposal to implement the B10 mandate following the low crude palm oil prices.
The price is expected to remain until the end of the year, he added.
Zakaria said FGV and MPOB had conducted a comprehensive B10 usage test since August 2017 through the logistics division before being expanded to selected plantation and mill sectors beginning May this year.
“As at end August 2018, the division has used 91,536 litres of B10 with a distance of 172,932km, while in plantation and factory operations, each uses 26,347 litres and 59,077 litres respectively.
“During the testing period, there are no technical issues reported and scientific studies through MPOB also showed positive results. We will continue this test until October to ensure we achieve a consistent and comprehensive data,” he said.