Finnish sustainable aviation fuel producer Neste has been named among European companies that received shipments from Indonesian firms under investigation in a palm oil fraud case, according to an AFP and SourceMaterial investigation.
The Indonesian probe alleges that companies and officials falsely labelled palm oil as palm oil mill effluent, known as POME, a waste byproduct used in biofuel production. Authorities say the practice may have helped firms avoid higher taxes and cost the Indonesian state millions in lost revenue.
The report said shipments labelled as POME were sent to both Neste and Italian energy company Eni from Indonesian suppliers now linked to the investigation. There is no suggestion that Neste or the other buyers knew about or were involved in any fraud.
Neste said it had instructed its supplier to exclude the implicated companies after the Indonesian investigation became public. The company also said tests on shipment samples from 2023 to 2025 were consistent with palm-derived waste rather than palm oil.
The case has raised new questions about oversight in the biofuel supply chain. Palm oil has long been linked to deforestation, and the European Union is due to ban its use in biofuel from 2030.
