China buys more ethanol from Vietnam in one go than in the whole year through July

In China, a vessel of 3,000 cu m of ethanol will soon be on its way from Vietnam with its arrival expected in September thanks to an arbitrage window that opened up following the start of plant maintenance season in China. A subsidy for ethanol plants also expired while some plants ran up against environmental challenges that caused slowdowns, all of which helped to boost domestic prices to $879/mt on Thursday, up more than 13% in the past two months. With stronger prices, the shipment will bring in more imports in one go than the entire 2,792 cu m the country imported this year through July.