Tallow and Greases

Tallow and grease come from processing (rendering) the fat of cattle. Tallow is used to produce both edible and inedible products. Edible products include margarine, cooking oil, and baking products. Inedible tallow products include soap, candles, and lubricants. The months with the highest levels of edible tallow use are May through August. Per capita use of edible tallow has been increasing over the last several years. In 1991, per capita use of tallow was 3.9 pounds while in 2000 it was 5.8 pounds. Production of tallow and greases is directly related to the number of cattle produced. Those countries that are the leading cattle producers are also the largest producers of tallow. The American Fats and Oils Association provides specifications for a variety of different types of tallow and grease, including edible tallow, lard (edible), top white tallow, all beef packer tallow, extra fancy tallow, fancy tallow, bleachable fancy tallow, prime tallow, choice white grease, and yellow grease. The specifications include such things as the melting point, color, density, moisture content, insoluble impurities, and others.

Prices – Tallow prices (edible) rallied sharply in 2003, along with the price of cattle. Tallow prices rallied to 23.08 cents/pound in December 2003, producing an average price for the year of 18.30 cents/pound. That was the highest average yearly price seen since 1997. The price of inedible tallow and grease rallied to an average price of 18.3 cents in 2003, up from 13.5 cents in 2002.

Supply – World production of tallow and greases (edible and inedible) has averaged over 8 million metric tons since 1993. The U.S. is by far the world's largest producer of tallow and greases with about 43 percent of the world total. The next largest producer was Australia with about 6 percent of the world output. Brazil had about 6 percent of global tallow production. Other large producers include Canada, Argentina, France, and South Korea. U.S. production of edible tallow in 2001 was 1.84 billion pounds, virtually the same production level as in the year 2000. The general trend has been an increase in the production of edible tallow. The total supply of edible tallow in 2001 was estimated at 1.91 billion pounds. US production of inedible tallow and greases in 2003 was 6.333 billion pounds, down from the 7.156 billion in 2002. US exports of inedible tallow and grease in 2003 were 330 million pounds, down from 384 million pounds in 2002.

Demand – US usage of tallow in 2001 was estimated at 1.52 billion pounds, down 5 percent from 2000. Of total US production in 2001, exports were 365 million pounds, up 47 percent from 2000. Mexico is the largest importer of tallow.