Indonesia Aims to Become Top SAF Supplier, Tightens Used Cooking Oil Exports

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has expressed his ambition to make his country the world's top supplier of sustainable aviation fuel, defending Jakarta's decision to tighten controls on exports of used cooking oil and palm oil residues.

Resource-rich Indonesia began clamping down on such shipments under a regulation issued by the Ministry of Trade last year. Exporters must now obtain government approval to export used cooking oil (UCO) and palm oil residues. Prabowo said the restrictions were necessary to safeguard domestic sustainable aviation fuel supplies, even as global demand for Indonesian palm oil continues to grow.

"Indonesia can become the world's largest supplier of sustainable aviation fuel. Even palm oil residues are a feedstock for this fuel, so we apologise to other countries; we have decided to restrict and ban exports of palm oil residues and used cooking oil," President Prabowo Subianto said.

Sustainable fuel and self-sufficiency

• Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF): In August, state-owned Pertamina subsidiary Pelita Air used sustainable aviation fuel derived from used cooking oil for the first time on a commercial flight between Jakarta and Bali.
• Biodiesel policy: Indonesia is seeking to secure sufficient palm oil supplies to sustain its biodiesel programme, which it views as a decisive solution to ending reliance on imported diesel.

Expanding the B40 and B50 programmes

Jakarta currently mandates a 40% palm oil blend in diesel fuel, known as B40. According to the Ministry of Energy, the policy has delivered the following results:

• Production: B40 biodiesel output reached 14.2 million kilolitres.
• Savings: The country saved around $7.8 billion in foreign exchange.
• Import reduction: The policy cut diesel imports by 3.3 million kilolitres.

Plans are now underway to raise the mandatory blend to 50%, known as B50, with implementation potentially starting in the second half of this year, pending test results.

Export data for 2025

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia's exports of crude palm oil and its derivatives reached:

• Total value: $24.42 billion.
• Volume: 23.61 million tonnes.

Source: Jakarta Globe