US Biofuel Demand Drives Record Soybean Oil Use

10 November 2026, Chicago, US: US biofuel producers consumed a record 1.687 billion pounds of soybean oil in July 2026, up about 52 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. The surge, which industry sources link to updates to the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit and the finalization of 2026 and 2027 biofuel blending mandates earlier this year, is reshaping both the soybean processing industry and the oil’s traditional export markets.

July’s total was up 8.4 percent from 1.556 billion pounds in June. Biodiesel plants used a record 816 million pounds of soybean oil that month and renewable diesel plants used a record 871 million pounds. Consumption fell back in August to 1.4 billion pounds, down 17 percent from July though still up 34.6 percent from a year earlier. Renewable diesel plants used 625 million pounds in August, down 28 percent from July, while biodiesel plants used 775 million pounds, down 5 percent. Trading sources attributed the August pullback to planned and unplanned plant shutdowns and other operational issues.

Tightening stocks, falling crush

The National Oilseed Processors Association, whose members process about 99 percent of US soybeans, reported on October 15 that implied soybean oil consumption rose for a seventh consecutive month in September. Member stocks fell 12.3 percent that month to 1.05 billion pounds, down 15.3 percent from September 2025 and the lowest level since 2014. At the same time, US soybean crush fell to a 13-month low of 196.3 million bushels in September, down 4.4 percent from 205.456 million bushels in August, which trading sources attributed to the normal seasonal slowdown combined with weather disruption at crushers in the western Corn Belt, particularly in Iowa.

Processors are nonetheless investing heavily to expand capacity. ADM is expanding and upgrading four Midwest crush plants, adding roughly 700,000 tonnes of capacity with completion expected between mid-2028 and early 2029, and is adding 20 million bushels of annual corn grinding capacity at its Columbus, Nebraska dry mill in two phases. Nick Smith, ADM’s president of North American energy and biofuels, said in an October 26 company release that strong renewable volume obligations, durable tax policy and growing demand for lower-carbon fuels were supporting long-term investment decisions.

CHS broke ground in early October on a proposed $770 million soybean crush plant near Evansville, Wisconsin, expected to produce about 1 billion pounds of soybean oil a year once completed in the fall of 2028. Louis Dreyfus Company’s new plant in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, began receiving soybean shipments in mid-September and will produce 320,000 tonnes of refined soybean oil annually. Continental Refining Company is set to complete a biodiesel expansion at its Somerset, Kentucky complex by November 15, doubling capacity from 5 million to as much as 10 million gallons a year, though the soybean crush plant at that site remains idle for the season following a fire on July 5.

Exports squeezed as feedstock mix shifts

The domestic biofuel pull has come largely at the expense of exports. US soybean oil exports for the 2025-2026 marketing year totaled just over 828 million pounds, below the US Department of Agriculture’s 975-million-pound projection and down more than 65 percent from the record 2.5 billion pounds shipped in 2024-2025. The USDA projects exports of only 400 million pounds in 2026-2027, citing higher renewable volume obligations, which would be the second-lowest export volume on record since 1964.

Soybean oil’s share of the overall US low-carbon-intensity feedstock pool was 39.5 percent in August, down from 40.3 percent in July and 41 percent in June, and well below the 50 to 60 percent share it held in 2020 through 2022. Canola oil use rose more than 15 percent on the month to 381 million pounds, lifting its feedstock share to 10.7 percent from 8 percent, while used cooking oil held at 607 million pounds but increased its share to 17.1 percent from 14.6 percent. Distiller’s corn oil use fell 17.7 percent to 373 million pounds, about 10.5 percent of the feedstock mix. The USDA’s October World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report maintained soybean oil biofuel use at 17.8 billion pounds for 2026-2027, up 22 percent from an expected 14.55 billion pounds in 2025-2026.

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