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Ethanol exports trending higher

Exports are trending higher as U.S. ethanol production continues at a record pace.

Ron Lamberty with the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) says with an already huge and growing supply, the industry is counting on a steady rise in global demand.

“You’ve got China, which has gone from 65 million cars being owned in that country in 2007, where (the U.S.) is at about 225 million then and about 250 million now.  To where (China) is now well over 300 million cars, so they’ve got 5 times the number of cars in 10 years.”

He says the export market for U.S. ethanol has quickly multiplied from less than 1 billion gallons three years ago to nearly 2 billion projected for 2018.

Speaking to Brownfield at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Altoona Tuesday, Lamberty indicated Japan and India show great promise too.

“I think the export market if you’re talking 5 to 10 years, you could be talking about a 4 billion-gallon market for exports.  That’s substantial.”

Lamberty says as ethanol demand ascends around the world, the main competition to U.S. exports will be importing countries trying to build their own domestic supply.