The U.S. Grains Council is adding a new strategic director in Asia and assistant director in Southeast Asia to help increase near-term demand for feed grain sales and build long-term demand for ethanol among global customers. Tim Tierney has joined the Council as director of strategic marketing/ethanol in North Asia, filling a new role that seeks to capitalize on both …
Report Finds Opportunities for Ethanol and DDG Exports
A new report from USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) says an increase in global ethanol mandates is creating additional export opportunities for the U.S. ethanol industry, but it depends on the ability to increase production and keep those markets open. According to Global Ethanol Mandates: Opportunities for U.S. Exports of Ethanol and DDGS, 26 countries have implemented blending mandates since …
New Zealand Triples U.S. DDGS Purchases
New Zealand is producing record amounts of milk this year and feeding triple the amount of U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) compared to last year, according to the U.S. Grains Council. New Zealand has purchased 113,000 metric tons of U.S. DDGS so far this year compared to just 37,000 tons imported the same time last year. While this …
Iowa Makes $2.8B Grain Deal with Taiwan
A trade team from Taiwan visited Iowa last week and signed letters of intent to purchase $2.8 billion worth of U.S. grains over the next two years. The deal includes corn, soybeans, wheat, and the ethanol co-product distillers dried grain with solubles (DDGS). Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) Director Mark Heckman signed the letter of intent between ICPB and the …
Vietnam to Resume Imports of U.S. DDGS
The government of Vietnam has notified the U.S. that it will resume imports of American distillers dried grains (DDGS), which were suspended in December 2016 after reported detections of quarantine pests in U.S. shipments, according to USDA. Prior to the suspension, Vietnam was the third-largest market for U.S. DDGS, with exports valued at more than $230 million in 2016. The …
Ethanol and Biodiesel Groups Testify on Trade Issues
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) both testified at a U.S. Department of Commerce hearing Thursday to provide input on a recent Executive Order concerning significant trade deficits. The NBB testified about the harm being caused to the U.S. biodiesel industry from increasing volumes of imports from Indonesia, while RFA was focused on China’s recent …
D3MAX Reports Better Than Expected Pilot Test
D3MAX cellulosic ethanol technology is showing better than expected results in pilot test data at ACE Ethanol in Stanley, Wisconsin which began in February. According to the company, the pilot test results indicate that “the yield of xylose sugar from the xylan in corn fiber routinely exceeds 90% of the theoretical maximum yield, and overall sugar production in the pilot …
Ethanol and DDGS Exports Up in February
Exports of U.S. ethanol in February were the highest in a single month since late 2011, at 138.0 million gallons (mg), according to government data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association research analyst Ann Lewis. Brazil was again the top customer, taking in more than one-third of all U.S. ethanol exports (50.8 mg, or 37%) but 14% less than record …
Quad County Corn Processors to Evaluate XyloFerm®
Quad County Corn Processors of Galva, Iowa will soon be helping to evaluate the XyloFerm® yeast strain in the Cellerate™ process on an industrial scale. XyloFerm® is a Gen 2 yeast platform from Taurus Energy AB of Sweden distributed in United States by Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits. Now that XyloFerm has obtained GRAS status for distillers grains produced using …
Saudi Arabia Buying More US DDGs
Saudi Arabia is ramping up its purchases of the ethanol co-product distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) from the United States, according to the U.S. Grains Council. Last month, Saudi buyers purchased 18,000 metric tons of U.S. DDGS, a relatively large amount and a dramatic increase from total sales of just 8,400 metric tons in 2014. While the dairy and …