According to Energy Information Administration (EIA) monthly supply data through December 2014, which was released in late February, U.S. exports of fuel ethanol in 2014 reached their second-highest level at a total of 826 million gallons. This level was second only to the 1.2 billion gallons exported during 2011 and 33 percent more than exports of fuel ethanol in 2013.
Similarly, EIA said U.S. imports of ethanol, which totaled approximately 377 million gallons during 2013, fell by 81 percent to 73 million gallons in 2014, their lowest annual level since 2010. As a result, the United States was a net exporter of fuel ethanol for the fifth consecutive year and exported the fuel to 37 different countries in 2014.
In the United States, EIA said ethanol is primarily used as a blending component in the production of motor gasoline (mainly blended in volumes up to 10 percent ethanol, also known as E10).
Corn is the primary feedstock of ethanol in the United States, and large corn harvests have contributed to increased ethanol production. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the United States produced a record 14.2 billion bushels of corn in 2014, 3 percent higher than the previous record set in 2013.
Given the uncertainty surrounding future Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) targets and the lack of significant demand for higher ethanol blends in 2014, the EIA said growth in ethanol output had two primary outlets: It can either be blended into domestic gasoline or it can be exported.
U.S. gasoline blending grew for the second consecutive year in 2014, with gas consumption increasing slightly from 2013 levels, according to EIA. As gasoline consumption increases, more ethanol is able to be used as a blendstock (as E10). Additional volumes of ethanol beyond requirements for E10 blending and relatively small volumes used in higher ethanol blends such as E85 (85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline) were exported in 2014.
Canada remained the top destination for U.S. ethanol exports in 2014, receiving 336 million gallons, or about 41 percent of all U.S. ethanol exports. Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines all imported at least 50 million gallons of U.S. ethanol in 2014.
EIA said U.S. ethanol has been a competitively priced octane booster for gasoline in foreign markets, as well as an attractive option for meeting renewable fuel and greenhouse gas emissions programs standards. In addition, countries such as Canada and Brazil have ethanol blending mandates that continue to generate demand for U.S. ethanol.
Export volumes to Brazil increased by 146 percent in 2014, in part because of the need to meet Brazilian ethanol demand, according to EIA. Brazilian ethanol producers have already lost significant market share internationally over the past few years as U.S. exports have grown, in large part because of abundant U.S. corn harvests.
As a result, EIA’s reports that as many as 60 Brazilian ethanol plants were temporarily closed in 2014. Brazilian ethanol producers were also hurt by a lack of U.S. ethanol import demand in 2014, driven by uncertainty surrounding future RFS targets in the United States, which have been a strong driver of U.S. demand for sugarcane ethanol from Brazil in previous years. Sugarcane ethanol, unlike corn ethanol, generally counts as an advanced biofuel under the RFS program, which includes targets for several distinct categories of biofuels.
The United States imported 73 million gallons of ethanol in 2014, a decrease of more than 81 percent from 2013, according to EIA. About 74 percent of U.S. imports came from Brazil.
U.S. import demand for ethanol was driven lower primarily because of RFS targets that are not yet finalized, along with strong domestic production and import quantities of biomass-based diesel, which, like sugarcane, also counts as an advanced biofuel under the RFS program.
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