Rising palm oil prices have been working to underpin soybean oil price levels globally, sources have told Fastmarkets. This has allowed prices to rise, even though US biodiesel producers have not been booking feedstock orders for first-quarter 2025 production. Will this continue?

A biodiesel producer said “the soy industry has written off the [bio] fuel industry to chase wider export margins in the short term. A bit of a Chicago Board of Trade run [on soybean oil prices] coupled with strengthening basis has made the likelihood of selling oil for fuel use a pipe dream.”

Poor biodiesel margins and a lack of clarity on the Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit (CFPC) has many stand-alone biodiesel operators looking to idle operations beginning on January 1. These operators will likely be on the sidelines until the economic situation improves and there is clarity on the CFPC.

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