Skip to main content

Crude Oil’s Collapse Seen Causing Indonesia to Miss Biofuel Goal

From Bloomberg

By Yoga Rusmana and Eko Listiyorini.
March 1, 2015.

The collapse of crude oil amid a global surplus has led a decline in fossil-fuel costs that’s cut the appeal of producing energy from plants. Indonesia’s new government led by Joko Widodo approved an increase in the biodiesel subsidy last month, spurring analysts including Mandiri to forecast the change would help to raise domestic palm oil use at a time of expanding output and weaker demand from buyers such as China.

“It’s a hard time for biodiesel producers,” Bangun said in an interview on Feb. 18 at the Jakarta headquarters of the group, which represents everyone in the industry from growers to makers of cooking oil and chemicals. While the increase in the subsidy will add to the appeal of biodiesel, demand will be sluggish because of pressure from low crude prices, he said.

Palm futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, where the benchmark contract trades, lost 15 percent to 2,373 ringgit ($654) a ton over the past year as Brent crude sank 44 percent to $61.99 a barrel. Palm surged the most in four years on Feb. 5 after the subsidy increase to 4,000 rupiah (31 U.S. cents) a liter from 1,500 rupiah. Prices rallied to the highest since July on Monday as China cut interest rates and the ringgit fell.

Detail story visit here

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Indonesia's Astra Pins Hopes on Inexpensive Cars

From Wall Street Journal Feb 14, 2013 PT Astra International plans to continue dominating Indonesia's booming car and motorcycle markets by spending billions of dollars on expansion and becoming the first auto maker to sell a car priced to reach the country's emerging middle class. Astra controls 54% of the passenger-car market through joint ventures with Japan's Toyota Motor Corp., Daihatsu Motor Co. and Isuzu Motor Ltd., and holds 58% of the motorcycle-and-scooter market through a joint venture with Honda Motor Co.  To expand the pool of Indonesians who can afford a car, Astra plans next quarter to introduce models with sticker prices as low as $8,000 through its joint ventures with Toyota and Daihatsu. Currently, the least-expensive passenger cars in Indonesia sell for at least $12,000. "We will be the first offering affordable vehicles," he said. "This year, [auto-sales growth] should at the very least be flat, provided this ne

POSCO to lift Indonesia investment to $11 billion over next 5 years: Jakarta

From Reuters Oct 19, 2012 South Korean steelmaker POSCO will almost double its investment in Indonesia to $11 billion over the next five years, from $6 billion currently, Chief Economics Minister Hatta Rajasa said on Friday. The world's fourth-biggest steelmaker, already has a multi-billion dollar joint venture with Indonesian state-owned PT Krakatau Steel, the country's biggest steel producer. Earlier this year, the South Korean firm's affiliate POSCO Engineering & Construction, formed a consortium to build two 300-megawatt power plants on Indonesia's Sumatra island, worth around $1 billion. A POSCO spokesman in Seoul said the South Korean firm has yet to make detailed investment commitments in Indonesia, and noted other partners would jointly invest in any projects. Foreign direct investment in Indonesia stayed strong in the second quarter, showing the G20 member remained a magnet in a troubled global economy and that changes in mining ownership r

PLN: Gas Tender Held to Accelerate 35,000 MW Power Plant Project

From The Jakarta Post April 2, 2015 PLN, State electricity company  has said that its plan to hold the prequalification tender for the procurement of liquefied natural gas (LNG) aims to accelerate a 35,000 Megawatt (MW) power plant construction project. PLN’s director for strategic procurement and primary energy, Amin Subekti, said the company would hold a tender not only to ensure smooth power plant construction but also to secure its gas supply. PLN would auction not only the supply of gas but also its transportation and supplying infrastructure as well as its regasification facilities. He said PLN had announced studies on the prequalification process, followed by consultation sessions held at the company’s headquarters in Jakarta on Wednesday. Moreover he explained that in the end, the tender winners would create consortiums in which each of them would be permitted to procure gas domestically or through imports, to accommodate and to store, to transport and regasify the gas in ev