Oilseeds Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Oilseeds Market is projected to grow from USD 300.03 Billion in 2025 to USD 411.11 Billion by 2031, achieving a CAGR of 5.39%. This market consists of various crops such as soybeans, sunflowers, and rapeseed, which are cultivated mainly for vegetable oil extraction and the production of high-protein meal. The industry is driven by increasing demand for edible oils in food processing and the growing biofuel sector, as well as rising animal protein consumption that requires high-quality feed ingredients. Illustrating this industrial scale, FEDIOL reported that the European vegetable oil and protein meal industry processed roughly 40.6 million tons of oilseeds in 2024.

Despite this strong demand, the sector encounters significant challenges due to climatic volatility and extreme weather events. Erratic rainfall and extended droughts in key agricultural areas often interrupt farming cycles and reduce crop yields. This environmental unpredictability causes instability in raw material availability and pricing, complicating supply chain management and hindering consistent market growth.

Market Drivers

The mandate to expand biofuel and renewable diesel production acts as a major driver for the Global Oilseeds Market, significantly changing vegetable oil consumption trends. Governments around the world are implementing stricter decarbonization rules, requiring the energy sector to use more biomass-based fuels. This regulatory pressure has shifted soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower oils from food use to industrial fuel production, especially for renewable diesel which needs large volumes of feedstock. Consequently, crushing operations have increased to meet this energy demand, tightening the supply of oil-rich crops. For example, the USDA's December 2024 'Oil Crops Outlook' noted that U.S. soybean oil usage for biofuel reached approximately 13.0 billion pounds in the 2023/24 marketing year.

At the same time, the rising demand for protein-rich animal feed remains a fundamental driver, supported by increasing global consumption of livestock products. As meat and poultry production expands to feed a growing population, the need for high-quality protein meal - a byproduct of oilseed crushing - has surged. This ensures value is derived from both the oil and meal parts of the crop, maintaining healthy crushing margins and encouraging trade. The U.S. Soybean Export Council reported in December 2024 that U.S. soybean meal exports hit a record 14.4 million metric tons in the 2023/24 marketing year. To meet these combined demands, the International Grains Council forecast in October 2025 that global soybean output would reach 426 million tons for the 2025/26 season.

Market Challenges

Climatic instability and extreme weather events pose a significant barrier to the growth of the global oilseeds market. Essential crops like soybeans, rapeseed, and sunflowers rely heavily on stable weather patterns for successful cultivation. Irregular rainfall and prolonged droughts frequently disrupt agricultural cycles, resulting in lower harvest yields and reduced crop quality. These environmental issues lead to immediate supply shortages, which drive up raw material costs and cause severe price volatility in the trading market. Such fluctuations make procurement difficult for processors and prevent manufacturers from maintaining stable profit margins.

As a result, production volumes in major regions often decline due to these adverse conditions, restricting overall market supply. For instance, COCERAL forecast in 2024 that rapeseed production in the European Union and the United Kingdom would drop to 19.4 million tons, largely due to poor weather impacting yields in key producing countries. These unpredictable output variations create uncertainty throughout the supply chain, discouraging long-term investment and limiting the industry's ability to consistently meet the rising global demand for oil and meal products.

Market Trends

The commercialization of winter cover crops such as Camelina and winter canola for bioenergy is transforming supply dynamics by providing new feedstock without displacing food crops. Farmers are using fallow periods in standard crop rotations to grow specific oilseeds for the renewable energy sector, solving the food-versus-fuel issue while optimizing land use. This trend is especially visible in double-cropping systems aimed at producing low-carbon oil for renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel. According to Southern Ag Today in July 2025, a partnership between Bunge, Chevron, and Corteva expanded winter canola cultivation to over 35,000 acres in the southern U.S. for the 2024-25 season.

Concurrently, the adoption of regenerative agriculture in oilseed farming is accelerating as processors aim to lower the Carbon Intensity (CI) scores of their supply chains. This movement focuses on soil health practices like reduced tillage and cover cropping to minimize the environmental impact, enabling the resulting oil to earn premiums in regulated biofuel markets. Agribusinesses are quickly expanding these programs to ensure a supply of traceable, low-carbon raw materials that meet strict environmental standards. Milling and Grain reported in September 2025 that Archer Daniels Midland had enrolled over 5 million acres in its global regenerative farming program, achieving its target ahead of schedule.

Key Players Profiled in the Oilseeds Market

• Cargill Inc.
• BASF SE
• Chr Hansen Holding A/S
• Evonik Industries AG
• Novus International Inc.
• Alltech Inc.
• Associated British Foods PLC
• Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL
• ForFarmers NV
• Land O' Lakes Inc.

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Oilseeds Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Oilseeds Market, by Biotech Trait:

• Insecticide-Resistant
• Herbicide-Tolerant

Oilseeds Market, by Oilseed Type:

• Peanut
• Soybean
• Sunflower Seed
• Cottonseed
• Copra
• Palm Kernel
• Rapeseed

Oilseeds Market, by Type:

• Conventional
• Genetically Modified

Oilseeds Market, by Application:

• Oilseed Meal
• Vegetable Meal

Oilseeds Market, by Product:

• Edible Oil
• Animal feed

Oilseeds Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Oilseeds Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

This product will be delivered within 1-3 business days.