Malaysia postpones B20 biodiesel until December 2021

Malaysia is delaying the rolling out of it 20pc biodiesel mandate (B20) in transport by six months as Covid-19 cases continue to hit record highs in the country.

B20 will now likely be introduced in Sabah state in June and the rest of the country in December, according to Malaysian Palm Oil Board director-general Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir speaking at the virtual Palm Oil Economic Review and Outlook Conference 2021.

This is the second postponement to Kuala Lumpur's programme to lift the mandate from B10 because of the pandemic having pushed back the implementation in May to 1 January from 15 August in Sabah, although it still then planned to stick to its original June date for peninsular Malaysia.

The B20 mandate is expected to double domestic biodiesel consumption to around 1.06mn t/yr once fully realised.

By Amandeep Parmar