Malaysia’s rollout of B20 biodiesel has been delayed indefinitely

The earlier announced nationwide rollout of B20 biodiesel for Malaysia’s land transport sector has been delayed indefinitely, confirms the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) in its letter dated 25-May, sent to oil companies and other stakeholders in the land transport sector.

The previous target announced in November 2020 was for B20 to be rolled out in Sabah starting 1-June 2021, and Peninsular Malaysia starting 1-December 2021. Sarawak has already rolled out B20 in September 2020.

MPIC did not give a specific date or time frame on when the rollout of B20 will be pushed back to, explaining that the delay is in-line with the government’s focus on reducing inter-district / inter-state travel in this Covid-19 pandemic. 

This is yet another delay in Malaysia’s B20 biodiesel mandate announced in February last year.

The plan was meant to prop up Malaysia’s palm oil sector by requiring a minimum 20 percent blend of palm oil in subsidized diesel fuels, replacing the current Euro 5 B10 subsidized biodiesel.

The Malaysian Biodiesel Association (MBA) estimates that the B20 mandate would’ve increased Malaysia’s consumption of crude palm oil (CPO) by over a million tonnes annually.

Euro 5 B7 biodiesel, which is priced RM 0.10 more per litre, will still remain on sale as not all manufacturers have collectively agree that going beyond B5 - the recommended limit set by Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) – is safe for use in regular, modern diesel engines.

To find out if your car is compatible with B20, here's a simple summary.

MPIC says the new rollout date for B20 will be decided only after consultation with oil companies.