Crude Soybean Oil Suppliers — Bulk Crude & Degummed Soybean Oil

Crude soybean oil: what it is and who buys it

Crude soybean oil (CSO) is extracted from whole soybeans at soy crushing facilities using hexane solvent extraction, mechanical pressing, or a combination of both. The resulting crude oil is dark-coloured and contains free fatty acids, phospholipids (lecithin), moisture, impurities, and minor components that must be removed before food use. Crude soybean oil is therefore an industrial raw material rather than a food-grade product. **Key commercial grades of crude soybean oil:** **Crude degummed soybean oil (CDSO)** is the most commonly traded form of crude soy oil. After extraction, a water or acid degumming step removes the bulk of phospholipids (which are recovered as lecithin for separate sale). The degummed crude oil is cleaner than fully crude oil and is the standard traded grade between crushers and refineries. CDSO is specified with maximum phosphorus content (typically ≤50–100 ppm) confirming effective degumming. **Fully crude soybean oil** (non-degummed) is rarely traded internationally — the phospholipid content and higher impurity levels make it less desirable for refinery intake. Some domestic transfers between co-located crush and refinery facilities may use non-degummed crude. **Who buys crude soybean oil?** **Edible oil refineries** purchase CSO as their primary raw material, running it through physical or chemical refining to produce RBD soybean oil for food manufacturing and food service supply. **Oleochemical manufacturers** use CSO (or the fatty acid fraction from refining) to produce soy-derived fatty acids, fatty alcohols, and surfactants used in industrial cleaning, personal care, and plastic manufacturing. **Biodiesel producers** — particularly in the US under the RFS (Renewable Fuel Standard) and in the EU under RED II — use soybean oil (both crude and refined) as a biodiesel feedstock. In the US, soybean oil is the primary biodiesel and renewable diesel feedstock, and the biodiesel sector competes directly with food use for available supply — a structural driver of US soybean oil price levels. **Commodity traders** trade CSO physically and on CBOT paper markets as part of the soy complex (beans, meal, oil) — managing crush margin and origin arbitrage.