Soybean oil’s share of the US biofuel feedstock mix fell to 37% in April from more than 40% in the first quarter, as high prices pushed producers toward corn oil, tallow, and used cooking oil. The switch is happening while biofuel output itself lags the mandate: the EPA built the 2026 mandate on roughly 90% capacity utilization, but actual May rates were 77% for biodiesel and 78% for renewable diesel, according to one source cited in the analysis, keeping RIN prices high.
CBOT soybean oil dipped on the news before rebounding with soybeans, which jumped after China’s state trader COFCO bought at least 300,000 tonnes of US beans and NOAA forecast a hotter, drier late July for parts of the Corn Belt.
Across the rest of the vegetable oils complex, direction split. Palm oil declined on rising Malaysian stocks, softer Brent, and fresh doubts about Indonesia’s B50 timeline. Rapeseed oil stayed strong on low EU beginning stocks and crop worries. Sunflower oil eased slightly, though Black Sea heat kept a floor under prices, and coconut oil rebounded, with market participants suggesting a bottom may be forming. Brent itself closed just under $72 a barrel as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz recovered and OPEC+ approved another quota increase.
Vesper’s full oils and fats analysis carries quarter-by-quarter outlooks for palm, soy, rapeseed, sunflower, coconut, and olive oil.
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