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It seems that the availability of Euro 5 diesel in Johor, originally reported to be from July 1, has been delayed. Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) CEO Madani Sahari has said that Euro 5 diesel will now only be available in the southern state in a month's time, The Sun Daily reports.

"We are going to implement first in the Johor area because of the need of our lorries to go into Singapore for the lower HSU (Hartridge Smoke Unit) requirement. The company that has agreed to do so need to do some engineering works."

"We as an observer, an outsider, thought that it is a straight-forward thing, just pump in the Euro 5 and that's it. Actually, it's not that straight-forward. They need to do some engineering work in the petrol station and that work needs to be approved by the local authorities like the Fire Department and so on. So that's still a work in progress, but it will be out in a month's time for Johor," the daily quoted Madani as saying.

In June, we reported that BHPetrol had agreed to supply Euro 5 diesel in Johor, following discussions with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and MAI. The imported fuel is slated to be available at 15-20 out of its nearly 50 stations in the southern state. It was reported to be priced at RM2.10 per litre, 10 sen more than current Euro 2M-grade B5 biodiesel available in the country.

hsu reading

Singapore's National Environment Agency earlier lowered the maximum permissible level of emitted black smoke from 50 to 40 HSU, with January 1, 2014 being the original effective date; later, a six-month grace period to comply was given.

"Now, other oil companies are also thinking (about it), but they are still undertaking a study on whether it is feasible for them to introduce Euro 5 in the southern part of Malaysia," Madani added. "Actually, it is an open platform - anybody can start supplying Euro 5. It is not exclusive to any oil company."

Further reading here: Euro 5 diesel to be sold at selected locations in Johor.