Philippines: Biofuels Annual
Consistent with the Philippine Department of Energy’s expectations, demand for ethanol is expected to increase by an average of five percent annually in the near future in order to meet the 10 percent mandated ethanol blend. While local ethanol production is expected to increase through 2016 due to a modest buildup in capacity as some potable alcohol producers’ shift to fuel ethanol production, meeting the current 10 percent ethanol blend in gasoline will still be inadequate. As a result, imports are expected to decline from 339 million liters (MLi) in 2014 to 302 MLi in 2015, declining again to 251 MLi in 2016. For biodiesel, there have been no compliance issues with the mandated two percent blend, and production is expected to be sufficient even at a higher five percent blend by late 2015.
