The latest dated reference available here is 69.91 U.S. cents per pound for the December 2026 soybean oil futures contract, settled on October 6, 2026. It is not a verified live quote for October 8. ZL is a CME futures contract—not the retail price of bottled cooking oil—and its month and trade date are essential to interpreting any quote.
What is the soybean oil price for ZL?
CME’s settlement page lists the December 2026 contract at 69.91 cents per pound for the October 6, 2026 trade date. That is a dated settlement, not an October 8 live price. CME says its website market data is for reference and should not be used to validate or supplement real-time feeds; streaming product quotes require login. For a live market price, consult an authorized real-time feed.
The same October 6 settlement table reported estimated aggregate volume of 123,364 contracts and prior-day open interest of 547,528 across the displayed soybean oil futures. These are table-wide figures, not December-contract-only totals.
What does ZL mean?
ZL is the Globex code for CME soybean oil futures. A standard contract represents 60,000 pounds of crude soybean oil, with prices quoted in U.S. cents per pound. The contract is deliverable and specifies crude soybean oil meeting exchange-approved grades and standards. The quote is therefore a futures-market price for a particular contract month, not a direct quote for packaged oil at a grocery store.
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The full symbol includes a month code and year. For example, ZLZ6 refers to December 2026 soybean oil futures. CME lists December and preceding expirations, so check the symbol and expiration rather than treating “ZL” as one undated price.
How to interpret a ZL quote
- Contract month: identifies the delivery month represented by the futures contract.
- Trade date and quote type: distinguish a dated settlement from a last-traded price or a live streaming quote.
- Price unit: the quote is in cents per pound, not dollars per gallon or per bottle.
- Volume and open interest: volume counts trading activity for a period; open interest counts outstanding contracts. The October 6 figures above cover the displayed table and are not a price signal by themselves.
The minimum price movement is 0.0001 cents per pound, which CME values at $6 per contract. This is the contract’s minimum tick value, not a forecast of likely price movement.
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Why soybean oil futures move
Biofuel policy and demand
CME’s September 2026 agriculture market update said sentiment in its discussion of August 2026 was shaped by biofuel policy signals. The update described concern that potential EPA Small Refinery Exemptions could threaten domestic biomass-based diesel demand. It also identified high domestic crush output and industrial demand as sources of price support. These are reported market influences, not guarantees of a particular price direction.
Crush activity and soybean supply
CME’s August 12, 2026 page reproduced USDA estimates for the 2026/27 U.S. soybean balance: total supply of 4,869 million bushels and crushings of 2,780 million bushels. Those are soybean estimates—not figures for soybean oil production, supply, or inventories.
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The forward curve and contract-month differences
Prices for nearby and later ZL contracts can differ. CME gave a historical example from the end of May 2026: July 2026 futures were 73.98 cents per pound, a 1.52-cent premium to August and a 4.60-cent premium to December. This illustrates how biofuel demand and other factors can affect the forward curve; it is not a current quote.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Contract dates and delivery terms
CME specifies that trading terminates on the business day before the 15th day of the contract month. The last delivery date is the seventh business day after the last trading day. Because ZL is deliverable, anyone trading it should understand the contract’s expiration and delivery provisions rather than assuming every position is cash-settled or suitable to hold through expiration.
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