The soybean oil/heating oil (BOHO) price spread widened in the week ended Monday August 19, rebounding from a six-month low in the previous week that was a result of another sharp sell-off in US soybean oil futures.

The BOHO spread was up more than 10% week on week to $0.7110 per gallon on Monday, as heating oil futures extended lower, but soyoil prices crossed back above $0.40 per lb.

Soybean oil is the most widely-used feedstock in the production of biomass-based diesel, and the BOHO spread is used as a proxy to measure the profitability of producing biodiesel from soybean oil. The higher the spread, the more costly production becomes, and vice versa.

In the last few months, the BOHO spread has been volatile, tracking shifts in soybean oil and heating oil futures.

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