DataPoint: U.S. Ethanol Exports Continue to Grow

This week’s DataPoint is brought to you by the Dealership Minds Summit, Aug 4-5 in Springfield, Ill. Visit DealeshipMindsSummit.com to learn more and to register. 

Fuel ethanol has grown into a major U.S. agricultural export commodity since the early 2000s. The United States exported a record 2.13 billion gallons of fuel ethanol during the 2024/25 (September–August) corn marketing year, surpassing the record set a year earlier by nearly 400 million gallons, or roughly 23 percent. In the last decade, export volumes and destinations have shifted. Brazil was once the top destination for U.S. fuel ethanol, but as Brazil’s ethanol production has increased, its imports of U.S. fuel ethanol have declined.

Reduced U.S. sales to Brazil, however, have been more than offset by expanding exports elsewhere. Exports to Canada, for example, grew from 322 million gallons in 2019/20 to 758 million gallons in 2024/25.