Palm oil starts year with big drop, B40 delay is the trigger

Malaysian palm oil futures fell sharply on Thursday (Jan. 2) due to the delay of Indonesia’s B40 biodiesel program, which created uncertainty in the market and triggered a wave of selling.

Indonesia was scheduled to implement a higher percentage of mandatory biodiesel blending program (B40) on January 1, 2025, but the program was not implemented on schedule as industry participants are still waiting for the relevant technical regulations to be issued, leading to a blow to palm oil market sentiment.