Ethanol Tops List of Fastest-Growing Agricultural Exports

(WASHINGTON, DC) As a trade dispute continues to boil between the United States and China, agricultural trade between the two countries has felt the burn. Soybean sales from U.S. farmers to their top international customers in China have receded dramatically. At the same time, exports of other U.S. grown commodities have suffered as well. Though Brazil is usually a competitor for American farmers and ranchers, they happen to be the largest customer of ethanol buying more than $540 million worth of U.S. ethanol in 2018. Actually, non-beverage ethanol has been the fastest growing U.S. agricultural export over the past decade by a significant margin. In another sign of competitive strength, the U.S. share of world ethanol exports reached a record 61 percent in 2018, up from only 9 percent a decade ago. Over this period, the U.S. has gone from the world’s largest ethanol importer to the world’s largest exporter. With China trade concerns still on the front-burner, domestic ethanol producers and trade groups are concerned. Recently, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) has been working with the Chinese to increase imports of ethanol to improve a growing pollution problem stirred on by increased petroleum demand in vehicles.