Analyst says China’s big R&D push for electric vehicles could erode future ethanol demand

In Illinois, an S&P Platts analyst told AgDay that with $150 billion earmarked by China in electrical vehicle R&D over the next several years, demand for 10% ethanol blending from China could be eroded in the longer term. As such, the Chinese market shouldn’t be seen as a “savior” for the US ethanol industry. In the shorter term, the country doesn’t have the production capacity to produce the ethanol required by the 2020 mandate nor to process imported corn, meaning that it must import ethanol for now.