Ethanol Exports to Brazil Increase, Overall Sales Decrease

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. ethanol exports receded in November, decreasing 5 percent to 107.3 million gallons (mg), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). However, the Brazilian export market was reinvigorated despite the restrictive tariff rate quotas. Brazil doubled its purchases and overtook Canada as the top customer for the first time since April. Two-thirds of all U.S. ethanol exports in November landed in Brazil (27.0 mg, +131 percent), Canada (26.8 mg, -11 percent), and Colombia (12.5 mg, +47 percent to a record high). At the same time, imports from Brazil intensified in November as the U.S. purchased its second-largest volume of cane ethanol in a year, up 16 percent to 25.4 mg. Total U.S. ethanol imports for 2019 now stand at 189.4 mg — nearly triple the volume imported last year during the same period.