Crude and refined glycerine brokerage

Yes, three names for one molecule. Glycerol is the chemical name (propane-1,2,3-triol, CAS 56-81-5), glycerine the usual British and trading spelling, glycerin the American one. Labels and safety data sheets mean the same substance either way; the specification, not the spelling, decides the price.

Pure glycerol solidifies below 17.8 °C -- well above zero, which surprises people every autumn. Crude glycerine, with its water and salts, is somewhat more forgiving but still needs heated or insulated tanks and lines in the European winter. Solidified cargo is not spoiled, merely late and expensive to move.

Not at ambient temperature: the flash point of pure glycerol is about 160 °C closed cup, and its boiling point is 290 °C. The exception is residual methanol in crude glycerine from transesterification -- methanol is a Class 3 flammable liquid, so a high methanol figure turns the cargo into a classification question before the truck is booked.

Each refiner draws the line by plant design, high-salt crude narrowing the buyer list sharply, the number acting as a market filter. Salt is glycerine's class system.

Off-quality glycerine sells at honest discounts to tolerant buyers, the market absorbing imperfection at a price as always. Upsets are invoices with a delay.

Crude is commodity, refined is speciality, the same molecule transforming across the purification ladder, value climbing with purity. Glycerine's ladder is its market.

Energy value in the worst markets, the molecule always worth burning, the floor rising with chemistry's demand from there. Glycerine falls to its calories and climbs to its chemistry.

ISO tanks are the crude standard, flexitanks where compatibility allows, drums for speciality lots, the viscosity and water discipline travelling with the cargo. Glycerine ships warm or ships slowly.

In closed, ideally heated or insulated tanks, because glycerine thickens in cold and picks up water in damp, both of which the buyer's certificate will find. Warm, dry and closed is the storage trilogy.

How much, because salt complicates refining economics and equipment, and high-salt crude narrows the buyer list. The salt number is a market filter wearing a lab coat.

With heating or insulation on the route, yes, the standard winter provision for this cargo. Frozen glycerine is not spoiled, merely late and expensive.

On a consistent analysis with the methanol story clear, monthly volume committed, through buyers who value steadiness over spot edges. Glycerine rewards boring plants.

Less weather than industry cycles, with antifreeze and construction uses adding winter colour. The mandate calendar drives production, downstream industry drives consumption, and we watch both.

Refining into technical and pharma grades, animal feed at suitable purity, and industrial uses from antifreeze fluids to concrete additives. The biodiesel boom made crude glycerine abundant, which is why the market pays for purity and consistency rather than for glycerol that still carries methanol, salt and soaps.

Crude is what leaves the biodiesel plant, typically 80 percent glycerol with methanol, salt, water and MONG, the matter organic non glycerol. Technical grade is refined to high purity for industrial use. The grade names are really price bands, and the MONG and methanol numbers decide which band a cargo falls into.

In insulated or heated ISO tanks and IBCs, because glycerine thickens in cold weather, with material choice following the salt and methanol content. The same cargo that pumps easily in July needs heated equipment in January, which is why winter placement is a logistics conversation before it is a price one.

Yes, and for steady volumes it often pays: distillation lifts the cargo from crude value into technical grade. Whether the capital and energy cost clear depends on volume and consistency, a calculation we run with producers before anyone orders columns.

MONG is Matter Organic Non-Glycerol: everything organic in the parcel that is not glycerol, such as free fatty acids and mono and diglycerides. It is calculated rather than measured, as 100 minus glycerol, minus water, minus ash, with ISO 2464 covering the calculation. Buyers ask because it tells them what they are paying to remove. A high MONG figure moves a parcel from a refining feed to a biogas or disposal conversation.

Five numbers, and without them it is an enquiry rather than an offer: glycerol content, water, ash, MONG and residual methanol. Add origin, monthly volume and certification status and a buyer can price it on the spot. Typical crude from biodiesel runs 50 to 85 percent glycerol, with the 80 percent plus material moving much more easily than material below that.

Yes. Crude glycerine is listed in Annex IX Part A at point (i) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, which places it in the advanced feedstock category rather than the capped Part B category. Annex IX has been amended since, so confirm the current letter against the consolidated text before contracting.

Matter organic non-glycerol: the organic impurity content beyond glycerol and water. It is the best single indicator of how difficult and expensive the material will be to refine, which is why refiners price against it directly rather than against purity alone.

Typically around 80 % glycerol, though it varies with the plant and the feedstock. Refined and technical grades run 99 % and above. The gap between the two is refining capacity, and access to a refiner is often worth more to a producer than a point of purity.

It is residual from transesterification and it is a safety, transport and classification issue as much as a quality one. Buyers and terminals both ask about it early, and a high figure narrows the list of parties who can legally handle the cargo.

Yes, and it is a well-established outlet. Crude glycerine is a readily digestible, energy-dense co-substrate for anaerobic digestion. Whether it is worth more there than in a refining or chemical outlet depends on purity, salt content, certification and location.

Yes, though the buyer list narrows sharply as the specification tightens, and USP and pharmaceutical grades carry documentation requirements well beyond a normal certificate of analysis. Tell us the grade and the intended use and we will say plainly whether we are the right broker for it.