U.S. sets ethanol exports record
U.S. ethanol exports hit a record 1.75 billion gallons for the 2023-2024 period, a 43% increase. Canada led demand, followed by the UK, India, and others. U.S. ethanol’s competitive pricing against Brazilian exports helped boost global sales. Despite a projected agricultural trade deficit, ethanol exports are forecast to reach 2 billion gallons in 2024-2025.
Already the world’s top ethanol producer, the U.S. exported a record 1.75 billion gallons from September 2023 to August 2024 — an increase of 43% from the previous marketing year. And as more countries begin to shift to cleaner energy policies, that trend is expected to continue. Leading the ethanol demand was Canada, importing 655 million gallons, followed by the United Kingdom at 227 million gallons, India at 171 million gallons, the Netherlands at 97 million gallons and Colombia with 123 million gallons. This total does not include the 140.5 million gallons shipped to Japan in the form of ethyl tert-butyl ether.
“We applaud U.S. farmers and producers for their outstanding efforts in increasing exports this marketing year, and especially to ethanol producers who continue their trajectory of outstanding growth to meet global market demands,” said Ryan LeGrand, U.S. Grains Council (USGC) president and CEO. “While we are all taking time to celebrate the good news from the GIAF (grains in all forms) report, USGC staff members are already well into their work to make marketing year 2024-25 even better for the U.S. agricultural industry and we look forward to continuing to develop markets, enable trade and improve lives on behalf of U.S. producers.” While the U.S. agricultural trade deficit is expected to balloon to a record $42.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, ethanol exports remain a bright spot. Export volumes are expected to edge up to a record 2 billion gallons, with a value reaching $4.3 billion, according to USDA’s quarterly trade outlook.
U.S. ethanol is generally more price competitive with Brazilian product, the world’s second largest supplier, helping to boost global U.S. sales. U.S. industry continues to supply all imports to Canada, which has become the world’s largest ethanol importer. U.S. industry is the top foreign supplier to the EU and the United Kingdom, currently the world’s second and third largest ethanol importers. Other important markets, such as India, Colombia, South Korea, the Philippines, Mexico and Peru, are seeing strong-to-record U.S. sales. The window of arbitrage for U.S. sales to Brazil has remained mostly closed this year due to the 18% tariff on U.S. ethanol imports. And USDA recently announced Brazil has denied requests to remove its tariff on ethanol imports. In a statement, USDA said it’s the second time the Tariff Changes Committee of the Chamber of Foreign Trade rejected requests to reduce the ethanol tariff since its implementation. Update on small refinery exemptions Both the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy applauded the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that it will hear arguments for moving small refinery exemption cases to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Fifth Circuit was an improper venue to hear challenges on small refinery exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) because the Fifth Circuit opinion set up a clear split with several other circuit courts on the question of venue, the organizations wrote in a statement. “The refining community’s abuse of small refinery exemptions destroys demand for biofuels nationwide, which negatively impacts farmers and bioethanol producers regardless of where they operate,” according to the statement. “The economic and environmental impact of this abuse does not recognize state lines. The decision in this case should strengthen the RFS by giving biofuel producers and their farm partners the certainty they deserve.”
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