U.S. ethanol exports increased 16 percent over December, as shipments of denatured and undenatured (non-beverage) ethanol totaled 63.6 million gallons (mg), according to government data released yesterday. Ethanol exports have not been that sizeable in six months, although the January total is still more than a third lower than average 2011 exports. U.S. exports to the EU totaled 5.4 mg in January, a 52 percent drop from December and 63 percent under 2012 average exports to the region. Given the anti-dumping duty that went into effect in February, exports to the EU could see a more pronounced decline going forward. January marked the first time in six months that the U.S. was a net exporter of ethanol.
Shipments of denatured ethanol for fuel use totaled 42.1 mg, a negligible increase over December. Canada was again the leading destination for denatured product, receiving 23.9 mg — or 57 percent of the total. The UAE (9.8 mg), Peru (5.2 mg), and Brazil (2.4 mg) followed. Exports of undenatured ethanol for fuel use increased to 19.5 mg, up 60 percent from December, a third higher than last year's average exports. The UAE was the leading recipient of undenatured ethanol for fuel use with 5.2 mg, followed by Brazil (4.0 mg), Mexico (3.3 mg), the Netherlands (2.6 mg), and the Philippines (2.4 mg). Shipments of denatured and undenatured ethanol for non-fuel, non-beverage use totaled 2.0 mg.
Meanwhile, the data showed 46.4 mg of fuel ethanol imports in January, a 44 percent decrease from December levels. The majority of imports came directly from Brazil (26.7 mg), while the remainder came via Costa Rica (8.6 mg), Jamaica (6.9 mg), and El Salvador (4.2 mg).
Exports of distillers grains jumped in January. Monthly shipments of DDGS totaled 585,237 metric tons (mt), up 10 percent over December. For the third straight month, Mexico (114,081 mt) was the top destination with nearly a fifth of the U.S. DDGS export market. China, the long-running top recipient of U.S. DDGS, was second (108,224 mt), followed by Turkey (55,460 mt) and Canada (51,991 mt).
