Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto wants to make Indonesia the world’s leading aviation fuel supplier as he defends Jakarta’s decision to clamp down on exports of used cooking oil and palm oil residue.

The resource-abundant country has begun tightening shipments in a regulation rolled out by the Trade Ministry last year. Exporters have to gain the government’s approval to be able to ship used cooking oil — also known as UCO — and palm oil residue overseas. Prabowo said the curbs were necessary to safeguard domestic supplies of aviation fuel despite world leaders wanting to get their hands on Indonesian palm oil. 

“Indonesia can be the world’s top aviation fuel supplier. The palm oil residue is even a material for aviation fuel, so sorry to other countries. I restrict and ban exports of palm oil residue and used cooking oil,” Prabowo told a televised conference with his ministers and governors in Sentul.

Prabowo did not go into details on whether he meant to implement a tougher ban or was only referring to the existing restrictions stated in the 2025 Trade Ministry regulation. Last August, the state-run energy firm Pertamina had its aviation subsidiary Pelita Air use UCO-based sustainable aviation fuel in a commercial flight for the first time. The airplane was on the Jakarta-Bali route. At home, Indonesia wants to secure enough palm oil to run its biodiesel policy, which the country sees as a panacea for its reliance on imported diesel fuel. 

“We can turn palm oil into biodiesel. With this, we can be free of diesel imports,” Prabowo said.

Jakarta has mandated 40% palm oil blend in its diesel fuel in a policy better known as the B40. The Energy Ministry reported that Indonesia’s B40 biodiesel output totaled 14.2 million kiloliters. The Southeast Asian country saved Rp 130.21 trillion (almost $7.8 billion) in foreign exchange as the policy cuts diesel imports by 3.3 million kiloliters. Plans are underway to further raise the mandatory palm oil blend to 50%, possibly starting in the second half of this year, although the launch will hinge on the tests.

Indonesia’s crude palm oil and derivatives exports totaled $24.42 billion throughout 2025. They totaled 23.61 million tons in value, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). 

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