US ethanol not likely to enter Japan until 2019/20

In Japan, Platts reports that the new policy shift allowing US ethanol into the market for blending into MTBE won’t have an immediate impact because new-season ethanol from Brazil had already been booked before the policy was approved. As a result, US ethanol won’t likely be imported into Japan until 2019/20 but when the market opens up that season, as much as 328,000 cubic meters of US ethanol could be required. Earlier this month, the country revised its regulations to have up to 44% of its demand filled by US ethanol.