The term “tall” originated from the Swedish term for pine trees.  CTO consist of a mixture of fatty acids, rosins and mixtures with esters, alcohols and decarboxylated rosin and fatty acid molecules.

For the chemical industry  CTO is processed through a bio-refinery into different fractions. In principle 4 fractions are sold commercially. tall oil fatty acid (TOFA), tall oil rosin (TOR), distilled tall oil (DTO) and pitch. Fractions with decarboxylated fatty acids and rosins together with esters and alcohols are considered by-products or biofractions.

Refineries that produce feedstock for the biodiesel producers have a simpler configuration where parts of the rosin and pitch is distilled from the fatty acids and other by-products. This mixtures still contains up to 20% rosin.

For the biofuel industry, mainly bio diesel production normally a mixture of fatty acids, rosin and other fractions are supplied to a fuel producer that use a hydrotreatment produces to turn this mixture in drop-in biodiesel.

CTO is biobased, natural and has an overall lower carbon footprint compared to vegetable alternatives. CTO does not compete with or displace edible crops, such as soybean or palm.