March ethanol exports soar 27% to 10-month high

In Washington, the Renewable Fuels Association says March U.S. ethanol exports vaulted 27% to a ten-month high of 132.3 million gallons (mg). Canada was our largest destination for the 24th consecutive month given its 43% share of March exports, including 72% of all denatured shipments. Our neighbor’s imports of 56.6 mg, a 34% bump over February, represent the largest monthly volume of U.S. ethanol exports to a single country to date. Other major global customers in March included India (22.8 mg, up from zero to a 13-month high), the European Union (12.8 mg, +104%), the United Kingdom (8.7 mg, -11%), Peru (7.9 mg, +89% to an 11-month high), and Mexico (5.9 mg, +9%). Notably, exports considerably curbed to South Korea (5.2 mg, -50%), the Philippines (2.2 mg, -62%), and Jamaica (2.1 mg, -67%), while Brazil again remained essentially absent from the market with a 16% tariff on U.S. ethanol in place. Year-to-date U.S. ethanol exports total 354.1 mg, lagging 10% behind last year at this time and marking the smallest first-quarter exports since 2016.