The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) said that it remains committed to implementing the nation’s biofuel policy and mandate.
In a statement, its Minister Datuk Hajah Zuraida Kamaruddin said in a statement that the ministry will maintain the status quo on Malaysia’s biodiesel mandate after Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer, lifted an export ban that had constricted global supply for several weeks.
The statement comes after Malaysia’s biodiesel group objected against a statement by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board in April urging countries to slow the use of edible oil as biofuel to ensure adequate supply for use in food amid a global shortage.
She said that needless to say that disruptions from the geopolitical tension have exacerbated price rises in food commodities which were already running at 10-year highs in the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) index – threatening not only a jump in global malnourishment but a spike in global inflation across both developed, developing and under-developed economies.
“True enough, Indonesia declared an export ban on April 28 on cooking oil and its raw material (which lasted until May 23) in the quest to make cooking oil available at affordable prices for its citizens.
But now that normalcy has resumed and calmer heads have prevailed, MPIC wishes to state that it is all status quo on Malaysia’s biodiesel mandate front,” she said.
On the same note, she said that MPIC wants to take the opportunity to reiterate that Malaysia’s National Biofuels Policy (NBP) which was rolled out in March 2006, remains committed:
To reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rate in line with the country’s aspiration towards achieving the GHG emissions reduction target of 45% of GDP by 2030.
To expand the use of downstream palm oil products and become an initiative to increase the income of oil palm smallholders through palm oil market price control mechanisms.
To help reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels as one of the energy security initiatives.
