U.S. ethanol industry sets its sights on the world

Canada remains the top export market for U.S. ethanol, purchasing 757 million gallons of the fuel in 2024-25.

The country blended the fuel at a 10 per cent level (E10) nationwide last year, with some provinces adopting an E15 mandate.

“As they continue to move to E15, they could be our first billion-gallon market,” Ryan LeGrand, president of the U.S. Grains and Bioproducts Council, told delegates attending the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 102nd annual Agricultural Outlook Forum.

The United States shipped out a record 2.13 billion gallons of ethanol around the world in 2024-25, up from the 1.75 billion gallons exported the previous year.

LeGrand said the goal is to continue expanding exports until the country is fully using its two billion gallons of excess production capacity.

There are plenty of promising markets, but Mexico tops the list. The country passed an E10 mandate in 2017, but it was later struck down by the courts due to a technicality.

Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, is an ethanol proponent, so LeGrand is hopeful E10 can be resurrected. That would create a 1.3-billion-gallon market for the fuel.

“We will get nearly 100 per cent of that market,” he said.

“We’ve got rail, truck and vessel access to our neighbour to the south.”