SAO PAULO, June 16 - Cargill is conducting a feasibility study to determine whether beef tallow can be utilised to make biodiesel in Brazil, a trader for the company said on Tuesday. The move comes as U.S. tariffs have reduced the attractiveness of exporting animal fat to that market.
According to trader Paulo Cardoso, Cargill does not presently use beef tallow in its biodiesel production. Cardoso said the company has launched a project to assess the viability of the feedstock in its Brazilian operations.
Cardoso noted that one of the three biodiesel plants Cargill acquired from Brazilian firm Granol in 2023 had previously used tallow, which suggests there are no immediate operational constraints to processing the animal fat at that location.
Brazil relies primarily on soybean oil as its main biodiesel feedstock, while beef tallow is the country's third-ranked input for biodiesel production. The new feasibility work examines whether Cargill can integrate tallow into its fuel supply chain under current market and policy conditions.
Cardoso said U.S. taxation "opened eyes" to the need to seek out new markets for tallow, and he recalled that Cargill's Brazil unit had previously served as a major exporter of tallow to the United States.
U.S. tariffs on Brazilian beef tallow currently stand at 10%, and industry group Abrafrigo has indicated that those duties could increase. That taxation on tallow exports has been cited by the company as a factor prompting a search for domestic applications and alternative markets.
The feasibility project is an exploratory step: Cargill is examining whether beef tallow can be a practical feedstock for biodiesel in Brazil, but the company has not moved to processing tallow in its operations as of Cardoso's comments. The presence of a formerly tallow-capable plant among its recent acquisitions provides a potential operational pathway should the feasibility findings prove favorable.
Context for markets and industry
The developments touch on several parts of the value chain: exporters of animal fats that previously relied on U.S. demand, biodiesel producers in Brazil assessing feedstock mixes, and trade flows affected by tariff policy. The company's study signals how policy measures can influence corporate decisions on sourcing and processing feedstocks for renewable fuels.