feedstock

plural feedstocks

1. countableuncountableAny bulk raw material constituting the principal input for an industrial process.

   The filtered extract of the mash is the feedstock for the fermenter.

   3 more examples

   Bio-materials may be substituted for petrochemical feedstocks as petroleum prices rise.

   In 2006, about 6 percent of the world's crude oil production was used in non-energy applications, primarily as a petrochemical feedstock.

   2009, M.S.Vassiliou, Historical Dictionary of the Petroleum Industry, page 5

   Perhaps the closest analogy to how A.I. works as a business expense is petroleum products. A common feedstock, crude oil, is refined into commodities such as gasoline, diesel and propane.

   2026 August 3, Lydia DePillis, “What Are Companies Getting for All That A.I. Spending?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN