Palm Kernel Oil Supplier — Bulk Crude PKO (CPKO)

What palm kernel oil is

Palm kernel oil is the oil pressed or extracted from the hard kernel inside the fruit of the oil palm, Elaeis guineensis. It is a separate commodity from palm oil, which comes from the fleshy outer pulp of the same fruit. Crude palm kernel oil, abbreviated CPKO or crude PKO, is that oil in its unrefined state: expelled from the kernel and clarified, but not yet neutralised, bleached or deodorised.

Chemically, palm kernel oil belongs to the small group of lauric oils, meaning lauric acid is its dominant fatty acid. It is a highly saturated fat, which is why it is firm or solid at temperate room temperature and why it resists oxidation far better than a liquid seed oil. The Codex Alimentarius Standard for Named Vegetable Oils, CODEX STAN 210-1999, lists palm kernel oil among the oils it covers and sets the characteristics by which it is identified. Where Codex is referenced in a contract, the certificate of analysis for the consignment still governs the lot you receive.

Palm kernel oil vs palm oil: two different oils from one fruit

The confusion between the two is constant and worth settling before a contract is drafted: they come from the same fruit but different parts of it, and they are not substitutes for one another.

• Palm oil comes from the mesocarp, the orange pulp surrounding the kernel. Palmitic and oleic acid dominate it, and crude palm oil is deep red from the carotenoids.
• Palm kernel oil comes from the kernel itself, the seed at the centre of the fruit. It is a lauric oil, pale rather than red, and considerably harder at the same temperature.
• The processing route differs. Palm oil is recovered at the mill with the fruit; kernels are separated, dried and crushed separately, often at another site entirely.
• End uses diverge. Palm oil and its fractions go mostly into frying fats, bakery fats and margarine, while palm kernel oil goes disproportionately into surfactants, soap and confectionery coating fats.

If a specification simply says palm oil, confirm which is meant. We quote both as separate products, and an offer for the wrong one costs a week.

Palm kernel oil vs coconut oil

Palm kernel oil and coconut oil are the two commercially important lauric oils and they are genuinely close substitutes. Both are lauric-dominant, both are solid at temperate ambient temperature, both are valued for oxidative stability, and surfactant chemists treat them as one family of raw material.

They are not identical. Coconut oil carries more of the shorter-chain fatty acids and melts over a narrower range, which is why confectionery formulators reach for it where a clean, sharp melt matters. Palm kernel oil carries more of the longer chains and, fractionated or hydrogenated, sets firmer in a coating fat. The choice is often made on relative price and availability rather than chemistry, which is why buyers ask us to quote the pair side by side. We supply refined coconut oil too, so one enquiry covers both.

Who buys crude palm kernel oil, and for what

CPKO is an industrial raw material, bought by processors who will refine, fractionate, hydrogenate or split it rather than use it as it arrives.

• Oleochemical plants splitting the oil into fatty acids and glycerine, and onward into fatty alcohols for surfactant manufacture.
• Soap manufacturers using a lauric oil for lather and bar hardness.
• Refiners producing refined palm kernel oil, olein and stearin for sale on.
• Confectionery and bakery fat producers making coating and filling fats on a lauric base.
• Cosmetics formulators buying derivative streams for cleansers, emulsifiers and emollients.

Crude, refined, fractionated or hydrogenated: naming the grade you want

Palm kernel oil reaches the market in several forms, and the commonest cause of a mismatched offer is an enquiry that does not say which. Name the form first, then the parameters.

• Crude palm kernel oil (CPKO). Unrefined, for buyers with their own refining or splitting capacity.
• RBD palm kernel oil. Refined, bleached and deodorised, neutral in colour and odour, ready for food or cosmetic use.
• Palm kernel olein and palm kernel stearin. The liquid and solid fractions from controlled-cooling fractionation, each with its own melting behaviour.
• Hydrogenated palm kernel oil. Hardened to raise the melting range, used mainly in confectionery coatings.

This page is about the crude grade; if your process starts after refining, ask for the RBD grade or a named fraction and we will quote that.

• Palm or sunflower for manufacturingThe two oils set against each other on function
• Reading a lot certificateLine by line through a certificate of analysis
• FOB or CIFWhich trade term leaves a buyer better off
• Everything we exportThe full product range, plus bottling and logistics
• Send a CPKO enquiryGrade, limits, volume, packing and destination port

What to specify when you request a quotation

We do not publish specification figures for palm kernel oil: a datasheet on a web page would describe the wrong lot. Lauric oils are traded against limits the buyer sets, and the certificate of analysis for the consignment reports what was actually loaded against them.

An enquiry that answers the following comes back as a firm offer rather than a list of questions.

• The form you want: crude, RBD, a named fraction, or hydrogenated.
• The maximum free fatty acid content your process can accept, with the test method named.
• Moisture and impurity limits, and any colour limit, again with methods named.
• Any melting or solid fat behaviour the end product depends on.
• Trace contaminant limits your import regime imposes.
• Volume, packing format, destination port and the Incoterm you want quoted.
• Whether your market obliges you to buy against a sustainability scheme.

Naming the laboratory method alongside each limit is what makes two suppliers' numbers comparable. Where a parameter is critical, say in the contract whether pre-shipment testing is required and who appoints the inspector; SGS, Intertek and Bureau Veritas are commonly nominated by buyers.

Packing, solidification and discharge

Palm kernel oil is solid or pasty at temperate ambient temperature, and that single fact decides more about packing than volume does. An oil that arrives set must be heated before it will move, so the discharge facilities at destination are part of the packing decision, not an afterthought.

• ISO tank. A reusable tank container, frequently steam-coiled, so the cargo can be brought back to a pumpable temperature at destination.
• Flexitank. A single-use liner inside a standard container. Cheapest per tonne, but for a fat that sets it has to be assessed lane by lane.
• Drums of 190 kg. Steel drums take a solid oil without difficulty, suiting inland destinations and buyers melting out in batches.
• IBC. Palletised and stackable, for mid-volume buyers with a melting arrangement but no tank intake.

Tell us the destination port, the ambient temperature on arrival and whether you have heating and pumping on site, and we will say which formats are worth quoting on that route.

Certification, and the EU market question

Our food safety systems are certified to HACCP and ISO 22000, and non-GMO grades are available on request. Those are the certifications we hold.

Palm and palm kernel products attract requirements other oils do not. Buyers placing palm derivatives into European markets are frequently required by their own customers to purchase against RSPO certification, and the EU Deforestation Regulation separately places due diligence obligations on operators placing palm oil and its derivatives on the EU market. We do not hold RSPO certification. Raise that requirement at the enquiry stage rather than after a contract is drafted, so neither side spends time on a shipment your scheme will not accept.

Trade terms, documentation and how to enquire

We quote FOB or CIF to a named port under Incoterms 2020. Under FOB you book the vessel and carry freight and insurance from the port of shipment; under CIF we arrange both and quote one landed figure. The port has to be named in the contract, because a region is not a price. Payment is by bank transfer (T/T) in EUR or USD, and lead time is typically 7 to 14 days from order confirmation.

Every consignment ships with a certificate of analysis and a certificate of origin, alongside the commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading. Palm kernel oil classifies under HS heading 1513; your broker confirms the subheading for the grade you buy.

Write to export@refinesunfloweroil.com, or use the contact form, with the grade, your limits, the volume, the packing format, the destination port and the Incoterm. We are at Gareth Jones St 8, 04119 Kyiv, Ukraine, exporting edible oils since 2000.

Related palm grades

Palm kernel oil comes from the kernel, not the fruit pulp, so it is a different product from crude and RBD palm oil. Both are available alongside it.

• Crude palm oil (CPO)Unrefined palm oil for refiners and processors
• RBD palm oilRefined palm oil for food manufacturing
• Refined coconut oilRBD coconut oil for food and cosmetic use