USDA releases annual 10-year projections: corn to remain primary US ethanol feedstock, with sharply slower growth

In Washington, the USDA has released its annual baseline projections for the next decade, in this case 2009-18, here. . The USDA projects a 20 percent increase in corn usage by the ethanol industry in 2009/10 over the previous year, to 4.2 billion bushels, or 33 percent of the corn crop. USDA projects continued expansion in U.S. ethanol industry, although the pace is assumed to slows.

Corn is expected to remain the primary feedstock for U.S. ethanol production during the projection period. Slower annual growth for corn based ethanol is projected, however, largely reflecting moderate gains assumed in overall gasoline consumption in the United States. Nonetheless, by the end of the projection period, ethanol production accounts for about 35 percent of corn use, and corn-based ethanol production exceeds 9 percent of annual gasoline consumption. The full report, including all 2009-18 scenario tables, in available here.

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