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

If carried out, the B40 required could increase biodiesel intake to approximately 16 million kilolitres (KL) next year, the ministry said, from 13 million KL approximated to be consumed in 2024.

“We hope the trials could be finished in December, so that complete implementation of B40 might be carried out in 2025,” energy ministry senior official Eniya Listiani Dewi said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association (APROBI) stated the industry had the capability to fulfill B40 demand, with installed capacity anticipated to rise to 20 million KL yearly next year from 18 million KL now.

“However we will require more raw products to satisfy B40 need,” Ernest Gunawan, the secretary general of APROBI informed on Wednesday.

The biodiesel market would need 13.9 million metric heaps of crude palm oil to produce 16 million KL biodiesel next year, from the estimated 11 million tons needed this year, he added.

Indonesia’s greatest palm oil association GAPKI said a decrease in exports suggested there would be sufficient basic materials to provide the B40 required in the meantime.

But the market would need to assess “which one would be more valuable”, GAPKI chairman Eddy Martono stated, describing the possibility an increase in exports would make providing the domestic market less feasible.

Indonesia’s palm oil output is estimated to reach 54.4 million loads in 2024, a 2.26% increase from in 2015, while exports are expected to decline by 2.47% to 29.5 million lots as domestic intake rose, driven by biodiesel mandate.

The ministry had checked the biodiesel, combined with 40% of palm oil, on a train for the very first time earlier this week, while preparing to check the B40 mix on agriculture equipment, power plants and in the shipping market, it said. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina and Dewi Kurniawati