U.S. ethanol exports reached the highest level ever for the month of May at 154.4 million gallons (mg), though this represented a 28% decline from a near-record in April. In a shift from recent trends, shippers targeted just twelve markets. Canada was the largest importer for the 38th consecutive month, despite a 4% decrease to 59.7 mg. The Philippines imported the largest monthly volume since October 2018 with an 82% jump to 16.0 mg. Exports also expanded to the European Union (14.2 mg, +3%), South Korea (13.0 mg, +8% to a 15-month high) and Singapore (9.1 mg, +452%). The remaining fifth of U.S. ethanol exports landed in the United Kingdom, Colombia, Brazil (for the second consecutive month), Mexico, Vietnam, Peru, and Jamaica. Year-to-date U.S. ethanol exports totaled 816.9 mg, up 43% from the same period last year.
The U.S. did not log any meaningful imports of foreign ethanol in May (141,806 gallons of undenatured fuel ethanol shipped from Brazil and Canada). Year-to-date imports stand at 1.4 mg.
U.S. exports of dried distillers grains (DDGS), the animal feed co-product generated by dry-mill ethanol plants, climbed 4% to 1.01 million metric tons (mt) on mixed markets. Shipments to Mexico declined by 15% to 198,438 mt, yet volumes were sufficiently strong to remain our top DDGS customer for the fifth straight month. Exports also decreased to South Korea (114,029 mt, -8%), Indonesia (84,884 mt, -33%), Vietnam (78,183 mt, -22%), Canada (55,799 mt, -8%), and Turkey (35,807 mt, -0.3%). Offsetting these reductions was a sizeable export expansion to the European Union (108,420 mt, +128% to a 28-month high), Colombia (40,035 mt, +89%), and China (39,962 mt, +99% to a 28-month high). The remaining quarter of U.S. DDGS shipments were spread across 30 countries. Year-to-date DDGS exports reached 4.93 million mt, up 18% compared to the previous year.
