Crude Palm Kernel Oil

About This Product

Crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) is recovered from the kernel inside the palm nut, which is separated at the palm oil mill after the fruit has been pressed. The kernels are dried and crushed at kernel crushing plants, by expeller pressing and sometimes solvent extraction of the cake, yielding crude oil and palm kernel expeller or meal. Although it comes from the same fruit as palm oil, CPKO is a lauric oil with a composition much closer to that of coconut oil. About half of its fatty acids are lauric acid (C12), with myristic acid (C14) the next largest, and relatively small amounts of oleic and palmitic acid. Its iodine value is low, typically around 16–20 g I2/100 g, and it melts at about 24–28 °C. Crude grades are commonly traded at FFA up to about 5 %, expressed as lauric acid, with moisture and impurities up to about 0.5 %. For biodiesel, CPKO is degummed and deacidified or esterified before transesterification. Its methyl ester is very stable and fluid, but its shorter chains change viscosity, flash point and distillation behaviour, so blends should be checked against EN 14214. For HVO and HEFA-SPK (SAF), lauric chains crack into a larger share of lighter products, shifting yield from jet towards naphtha, which makes CPKO less attractive for SAF-focused units than C16/C18 feedstocks. Its low unsaturation keeps hydrogen demand modest. Buyers typically specify FFA, moisture and impurities, iodine value, fatty acid composition (particularly C12 and C14), phosphorus, sulphur and metals. Because lauric oils are in strong demand for soaps, surfactants and fatty alcohols, CPKO often carries more value in oleochemical markets than as a fuel feedstock, and fuel use tends to be limited to specific blends. CPKO is a food and feed crop oil and is not listed in Annex IX. As a product of the oil palm, it is generally discussed together with palm oil under the EU's high ILUC-risk rules, and ReFuelEU Aviation excludes crop-based biofuels from its SAF obligation. Buyers should confirm its treatment in their market and the certificate scope for the lot with their certification body, and check that the chain-of-custody documents support their mass-balance records. CPKO is liquid in tropical climates but sets in cooler conditions. It is shipped in heated ISO tanks, flexitanks with heating pads and heated bulk parcels, and is commonly discharged at about 40–45 °C. In an enquiry, state your FFA basis and expression, moisture and impurities, iodine value and fatty acid requirements, the intended route, volume, delivery terms and documentation needs.