Guatemala officially launched its nationwide ethanol-gasoline blending program this month, becoming the first Central American country to mandate an E10 blend and establishing an export market for U.S. ethanol of 70 to 100 million gallons annually, according to the U.S. Grains and Bioproducts Council (USGBC).

Guatemala enacted its Fuel Alcohol Law in 1985, but political, economic, and technical challenges — including the lack of implementing regulations and persistent misconceptions — delayed the program for over four decades. The Guatemalan government recently overcame these barriers by issuing regulations requiring a 10 percent ethanol blend for all domestically sold gasoline. The program officially commenced on July 1, 2026, launching an operational conditioning period across the fuel supply chain that runs through August 21, 2026, when E10 will become available at service stations nationwide. Initial shipments of U.S. ethanol have already arrived to support the launch phase.

The E10 program serves as a central component of the U.S.–Guatemala Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), which explicitly includes ethanol and references annual purchases of at least 50 million gallons of U.S. ethanol as a trade opportunity. Given Guatemala’s gasoline consumption of approximately 1 billion gallons per year, a nationwide E10 standard is projected to generate an annual ethanol demand of about 100 million gallons valued at $160 million.