News
August ethanol exports at multi-month high
U.S. ethanol exports moved higher in August.
The Renewable Fuels Association says the volume of 100.7 million gallons was the highest monthly total since March, with shipments to Canada hitting a three-year high at 36 million gallons. India, Nigeria, Colombia, and Mexico were also notable buyers and Brazil bought U.S. ethanol for the first time since June. Year to date exports are 905.4 million gallons, 10% below year ago levels.
The U.S. also imported 35.6 million gallons of cane ethanol from Brazil, roughly triple July’s total, with year to date imports at 93.1 million tons, 11% above last year
Sales of distillers dried grains with solubles were 1.02 million tons, a decrease of 6% on the month, with Mexico, Vietnam, South Korea, and Turkey the primary markets.
The USDA’s weekly ethanol production and supply numbers are out Wednesday.
Corn ethanol is far more precious than the Iowa farmers realize — but not to burn it as a blend with gasoline in the internal combustion engine. Rather, ethanol can be used to make hydrogen to power fuel cells. Indeed, ethanol has so much hydrogen that it can be used straight in certain fuel cells.
Such technology could have been mainstream today if the Trump administration had spent but a fraction of the billions of dollars it has spent to extract methane from coal. Nonetheless, the path of hydrogen from ethanol is straightforward and it is still there. The next administration can thus pursue it to help the Iowa farmers realize the full potential of their precious ethanol.