U.S. exports of ethanol (denatured and undenatured, non-beverage) totaled 83.4 million gallons (mg) in March, according to government data released this morning. That's up 11% from February and marks the highest monthly total of the year so far. First-quarter ethanol exports amounted to 234.5 mg, implying an annualized total for 2012 of more than 900 mg.
Canada was the leading importer of U.S. product in March, bringing in 21.8 mg (as the result of an ongoing glitch in reporting, exports to Canada were reported as denatured ethanol for use other than fuel, even though anecdotal reports suggest it was indeed used for fuel). The United Kingdom, Brazil, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Netherlands were other top destinations in March.
Exports of denatured ethanol for fuel use totaled 44.8 mg in March, up 12% from February. The United Kingdom was again the top customer (12.4 mg), followed by Brazil (9.9 mg), and UAE (7.7 mg). Exports of undenatured ethanol for fuel use tallied 16 mg, down slightly from February. The Netherlands (4.7 mg), Mexico (3.9 mg), and Nigeria (3.2 mg) were leading destinations.
Today's data suggests 22 mg of denatured ethanol was exported for uses other than fuel. As mentioned earlier, the lion's share (99%) of this product went to Canada, and it likely was for fuel use. Non-beverage undenatured ethanol exports for uses other than fuel were reported at 641,314 gallons in March.
Exports of distillers grains (or DDGS), the animal feed co-product manufactured by ethanol dry mills, totaled 641,402 metric tons (mt) in March. That marks a 5% increase over February exports. China returned to the top spot as the leading importer, with 189,844 mt. Mexico dropped to No. 2, with 112,015 mt of imports and Canada held third with 56,060 mt. First-quarter DDGS exports totaled 1.86 million mt.
