Lower price making palm oil-based biofuel more attractive

"Malaysia biodiesel exports last year were pretty good ... It had a window to export to the EU, but now Malaysia is not competitive," said U.R. Unnithan, president of the Malaysia Biodiesel Association (MBA).

KUALA LUMPUR: The growing gap between palm oil and conventional oil products made from crude is making palm oil-based biofuel more attractive, helping boost exports from Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s top producers.

Palm oil’s discount to diesel reached US$124 a tonne on Friday, the widest since October 2014, and was at US$107 yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with an average premium of about US$134 a tonne in 2017.