When I was a reporter at the previously titled Chemical Market Reporter (now known as ICIS Chemical Business), I used to cover several specialty oilseeds markets such as safflower, camelina, high erucic rapeseed, castor, lesquerella, hemp, etc. I also covered the developing genetically modified oilseeds back then such as high oleic soybeans and canola.
Oilseeds with high oleic acid content continues to be of interest to the specialty chemicals sector not only for food but for industrial applications such as in lubricants,solvents, cosmetics, plastic additives, resins and polymers, biofuels, coatings, paints and inks.
In this recent announcement, GO Resources Pty Ltd (GO) – a new Australian clean technology company – has entered into an exclusive worldwide license with Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, to commercialize its technology to produce super high oleic safflower oil (SHOSO) for the high-value industrial oil market. The technology was developed at CSIRO through the Crop Biofactories Initiative, a joint activity of CSIRO and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).
The blog has actually posted about CSIRO’s SHOSO development in early 2014.
GO Resources said the safflower oil has the highest purity of oleic acid in any commercial crop. SHOSO has multiple applications in the biolubricants, biochemical and bioplastics industries and it could give opportunities for Australian farmers to grow high-value safflower in their crop rotations. The estimated value of the worldwide industrial oils and oleochemical market is in excess of $30 billion/year.
GO Resources will give Australian farmers access to safflower that produce very high levels of oleic acid (>92%) in the oil extracted from the seed. At the same time there is a reduction in the levels of less-desirable saturated and polyunsaturated fats. Oleic acid is a naturally occurring and industrially significant fatty acid, traditionally sourced at much lower levels from palm, tallow and oilseeds.
GO Resources expects Australian commercial production to begin in 2018 and seek to expand Australian and international opportunities over time.
