Buy South Africa Cottonseed Oil Directly From Exporters & Suppliers - Best of 2024 Market Prices

The increasing global demand for cottonseed oil in food products and other industries encourages the growth of the cottonseed oil market. In 2018, the global demand for cottonseed oil was $8.2 billion.

South Africa cottonseed oil production seeks to meet both the international and domestic demand. Cottonseed oil uses include processing cooking oils, salads, margarine and shortenings.

Cottonseed oil is extracted from the seeds of cotton plants. The cotton plants mainly belong to two main species which include Gossypium herbaceum and Gossypium hirsutum, which are grown for oil, animal feed, and cotton fibre.

Cottonseed has a relatively similar structure compared to other oilseeds. The kernel bears the oil, and an outer shell surrounds it. During processing, the seeds’ threshing extracts the oil.

A cotton seed’s size ranges between 3.5mm and 10mm long. After processing, cottonseed oil’s colour is mostly clear with a light-golden tinge.

The ancient Hindus and Chinese used crude methods to extract cottonseed oil and mostly used it in lamps and for medicinal purposes. The first cottonseed oil mill was in Missouri in 1833, and the industry gradually expanded across the world.

The production of South Africa cottonseed oil has grown from 1969 with various fluctuations. The highest production was in 1988 with 20 thousand metric tons, and the lowest was in 1972 with 4 thousand metric tons. In 2019, the production amount was approximately 16 thousand metric tons.

In 2018, South Africa exported 5,630 metric tons, which contributed 0.032% of the global market share. The top export destinations for South Africa cottonseed include Namibia, Zambia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe among other countries.

Some of the cotton varieties grown for cottonseed oil in South Africa include Nazilli, Stoneville, Coker, and Ersan. The types are differentiated by free gossypol content whose concentration varies between 0.02% to 6.64%.

High gossypol concentration is harmful for consumption. However, through heat treatment and mechanical pressure or solvent extraction, gossypol concentration can be reduced to 0.06% in cottonseed varieties that contain higher concentrations.

Cottonseed is in cotton, and harvesting takes place between June and August. The planting season for cotton in South Africa begins during late October and can last up to late November. The ideal soil temperature during planting is 16°C-18°C.

The plant thrives in well-drained sandy soils or clay soils. The seed is planted at least 30mm deep in sandy soils but 20mm deep in clay soils. The soil moisture content is optimized through light irrigation of 15mm to 20mm after planting. 

During the harvesting of cotton, cotton seeds are obtained through a mechanical process. The seeds are then cleaned to get rid of organic impurities such as leaves and stems. The next step involves cracking, which is a process that breaks the cotton seeds into uniform pieces.

The cotton seeds then go through flaking to convert the seeds into smaller flakes. The seeds are later ‘cooked’ under temperatures of 95 to 100 degrees Celsius to get rid of water content. Afterwards, the dried seeds go through expelling where pressing is done to extract oil.

The extracted oil is finally refined to remove any residue. The refined cottonseed oil is later packed bottles, gallons or drums varying from 5 litres to as much as 200 litres. The product is stored under controlled temperatures of 15 – 20°C and has a maximum shelf life of four months.

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