JAKARTA, July 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil producer, is checking fuel with a view to increasing to 40% from 35% the share of palm-oil mixed into biodiesel next year, the energy ministry said.


If implemented, the B40 mandate might increase biodiesel consumption to as much as 16 million kilolitres (KL) next year, the ministry said, from 13 million KL approximated to be consumed in 2024.


"We hope the trials could be finished in December, so that complete application of B40 might be performed in 2025," energy ministry senior main Eniya Listiani Dewi said in a declaration on Tuesday.


The Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association (APROBI) stated the industry had the capacity to meet B40 demand, with installed capability expected to increase to 20 million KL annually next year from 18 million KL now.


"However we will need more raw materials to satisfy B40 demand," Ernest Gunawan, the secretary general of APROBI told Reuters on Wednesday.


The biodiesel industry would require 13.9 million metric heaps of unrefined palm oil to produce 16 million KL biodiesel next year, from the approximated 11 million heaps required this year, he added.


Indonesia's biggest palm oil association GAPKI said a decline in exports suggested there would suffice raw products to provide the B40 required for now.


But the industry would need to evaluate "which one would be better", GAPKI chairman Eddy Martono said, referring to the possibility a boost in exports would make supplying the domestic market less practical.


Indonesia's palm oil output is estimated to reach 54.4 million loads in 2024, a 2.26% increase from in 2015, while exports are expected to decrease by 2.47% to 29.5 million tons as domestic usage rose, driven by biodiesel required.


The ministry had checked the biodiesel, combined with 40% of palm oil, on a train for the very first time previously today, while preparing to test the B40 mix on farming machinery, power plants and in the shipping industry, it said. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina and Dewi Kurniawati; Writing by Stanley Widianto; Editing by John Mair, Savio D'Souza and Barbara Lewis)