Colombia’s biodiesel production is forecast to increase 4.5% to 765 million litres in 2026, supported by record crude palm oil (CPO) production, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The country’s B10 biodiesel blending mandate remains unchanged, while Colombia is expected to remain fully self-sufficient in biodiesel feedstock, with no biodiesel imports or exports forecast. The findings were published in the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Colombia: Biofuels Annual on September 24, 2026.
The production outlook reflects the continued expansion of Colombia’s palm oil sector and the availability of domestic CPO for biodiesel manufacturing.
Record palm oil output supports biodiesel production
Colombia’s palm oil industry recorded its strongest production performance in 2025, providing the feedstock base for higher biodiesel output in 2026.
The National Federation of Oil Palm Growers (Fedepalma) reported 1.93 million tonnes of palm oil production in 2025, an increase of 12% from 2024 and the highest level recorded by the sector.
The USDA expects national palm oil production to exceed 2 million tonnes in 2026.
Colombia’s planted oil palm area reached approximately 641,000 hectares in 2025, up 5% from the previous year. The USDA said the continued maturation of newer plantations is supporting further gains in palm oil production.
Fedepalma data also showed that palm oil production continued to expand into 2026. Production during January-August reached around 1.4 million tonnes, 3.8% above the corresponding period of 2025, while production over the preceding 12 months approached 2 million tonnes.
Biodiesel remains a major domestic outlet for palm oil
Biodiesel is Colombia’s second-largest domestic use of palm oil after food and edible-oil applications.
The USDA estimates that biodiesel production consumed approximately 642,000 tonnes of CPO in 2025, with this figure expected to rise to around 670,000 tonnes in 2026.
The country’s biodiesel market is therefore closely linked to domestic palm oil availability. The USDA noted that Colombia’s biodiesel consumption remains almost entirely feedstock-driven, with domestic production determining the volume available to the market.
Fedepalma’s data also highlights the importance of biodiesel within the domestic palm oil market. During the first quarter of 2026, biodiesel accounted for 47% of Colombia’s domestic palm oil sales, making it the largest domestic end-use segment during that period.
Colombia maintains B10 biodiesel mandate
The 10% biodiesel blending level, or B10, remains in place in Colombia.
With domestic palm oil production increasing and the biodiesel mandate unchanged, the USDA expects biodiesel production to reach 765 million litres during 2026.
Biodiesel consumption is estimated at approximately 763 million litres, up 4.5% from the revised 2025 figure of 730 million litres.
The relatively close production and consumption figures reflect Colombia’s predominantly domestic biodiesel market. The country does not currently rely on biodiesel imports or exports to balance its market.
Biodiesel stocks are forecast to reach 29 million litres at the end of 2026, compared with an estimated 27 million litres at the end of 2025.
Six plants account for more than 90% of production
Colombia has 12 operational biodiesel facilities, according to the USDA report.
However, production remains concentrated among a smaller group of plants. Six facilities account for more than 90% of national biodiesel production, while the remaining plants operate at smaller volumes and can be more dependent on feedstock availability.
The market also has limited diversification beyond palm oil. Only one Colombian biodiesel plant was reported to be producing meaningful volumes from used cooking oil (UCO).
As a result, the country’s biodiesel sector remains predominantly palm-oil based rather than broadly diversified across waste-based feedstocks.
SAF development adds a new advanced-fuels pathway
While conventional biodiesel continues to dominate Colombia’s biofuels market, the country is also developing a policy framework for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
Colombia’s SAF Roadmap, published in January 2025, established a target of producing 100 million gallons (approximately 379 million litres) of SAF annually by 2035, increasing to 450 million gallons (approximately 1.7 billion litres) by 2050.
The roadmap forms part of Colombia’s effort to develop a domestic sustainable aviation-fuel industry alongside its existing liquid biofuels sector.
State-owned energy company Ecopetrol has already conducted SAF test production and has been targeting sustained production from 2028, subject to the development of a national regulatory framework.
Ecopetrol expands biodiesel use into marine fuel
Colombia’s biodiesel market is also gaining an additional outlet in the marine sector.
Ecopetrol introduced a B2 marine fuel blend in 2025, and the USDA’s latest report said the blend is expanding from Colombia’s Caribbean coast towards the Pacific coast.
The marine application provides an additional domestic demand channel for biodiesel alongside its established road-fuel market.
At the same time, Colombia does not yet have commercial-scale renewable diesel production, according to the USDA.
Palm oil availability remains central to Colombia’s biodiesel outlook
Colombia’s 2026 biodiesel outlook illustrates the close relationship between agricultural production and renewable-fuel output.
The increase in biodiesel production is not primarily being driven by a higher blending mandate. Instead, the B10 requirement has remained unchanged while stronger domestic palm oil production is increasing the feedstock available to biodiesel producers.
The country’s record 2025 CPO output, continued expansion and maturation of oil palm plantations, and expected production above 2 million tonnes in 2026 provide the immediate basis for the higher biodiesel forecast.
For the longer term, Colombia’s biofuels market is developing along two distinct tracks: a mature, palm-oil-based biodiesel sector serving road and emerging marine applications, and a developing advanced-fuels segment centred on SAF.
