The U.S. soybean industry has ramped up soybean oil production in response to the growing demand for renewable diesel. Recent analyses show that improvements in processing efficiency over the past five years have allowed U.S. processors to extract more oil per bushel of soybeans, meeting rising biofuel demand despite constraints on crushing capacity.
Market price movements have also reflected this shift, though the multi-product nature of soybeans makes it complex to link oil prices directly to renewable diesel growth. During the U.S. biodiesel boom of 2011–2017, soybean oil prices remained stable, largely due to China’s simultaneous surge in soybean imports, which increased global oil supply.
Recent data from late 2020 to 2025 show that soybean oil now accounts for a larger and more volatile share of crush value. Crush margins—calculated as the difference between the combined value of soybean oil and meal and the cost of soybeans—have experienced significant swings. Correlations between soybean, oil, and meal prices have weakened, signaling that pricing relationships are still adjusting amid new EPA renewable diesel regulations.
For perspective, on September 16, 2025, Illinois processing plants reported soybean prices at $10.23 per bushel, soybean meal at $305.40 per ton, and soybean oil at $0.50 per pound. A bushel of soybeans produced $7.33 from meal and $5.48 from oil, giving soybean oil a 43% share of total crush value and a gross crush margin of $2.58 per bushel.
Historically, soybean meal contributed most of the per-bushel value. However, with soybean oil prices nearly tripling from late 2020 to early 2022, oil value reached parity with meal in 2021 and again in mid-2025. While the components’ prices generally move together, recent divergences highlight volatility and uncertainty in the soybean complex, emphasizing the growing importance of oil in the industry’s response to renewable diesel expansion.
