Quarterly ethanol exports at a five-year high

Quarterly ethanol exports are at a five-year high, an article on the U.S. Grain Council’s website said.

Statistics released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS) shows that Brazil, in the first quarter of the marketing year, has increased it’s importation of American ethanol to 111.6 million gallons, nearly one third of total U.S. ethanol exports, the posting said. This is the second highest volume of U.S. ethanol exports to the South American country over the last 10 years.

The Brazilian government’s ethanol mandates are behind the increase in the country’s ethanol importation due to its sugar cane being diverted to sugar production to take advantage of a premium price on sugar. In order to enforce the mandates, Brazil upped its imports of the competitively priced American ethanol, highlighting the important role of trade in meeting ethanol mandates globally, the posting said.

To the north, Canada is the second highest importer of ethanol from this country, the posting said. Canada imported 87.8 million gallons during the first quarter of the 2016-17 marketing year, the highest level of U.S. ethanol imports by Canada during this time frame and a 26 percent increase in imports over the previous marketing year’s first quarter, the posting said.

Those two countries, along with China, were American ethanol’s biggest customers. They are followed by India, Peru, South Korea and Mexico, respectively.

Those countries had a combined 62.4 million gallon increase in ethanol importation over the previous year, according to the posting.