According to new reports from the Renewable Fuels Association, the value of the U.S. ethanol industry’s exports hit a record level of just over $7.1 billion in 2023. The volume of ethanol exports was the third-highest level on record at 1.43 billion gallons in 2023, while exports of distillers grains shipments registered at 10.8 million metric tons, slightly down from 2022.
“Exports represent a crucially important value-added market opportunity for U.S. ethanol producers and the farmers who supply feedstock to our industry,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “We exported one out of every 10 gallons of ethanol produced in the United States last year, along with one out of every three tons of distillers grains. The industry’s export sales made a remarkably positive contribution to the U.S. trade balance, while boosting farm incomes across rural America. As countries around the globe embrace ethanol as a low-cost solution for improving air quality and reducing carbon emissions, RFA will continue to pursue and protect free and fair trade opportunities.”
As detailed in the ethanol trade summary report, shipments to Canada set an annual record for a single destination, tallying almost 640 million gallons. The United Kingdom, European Union, South Korea, India and Colombia also were sizable markets.
In the trade summary report on co-product exports, including distillers grains, Mexico remained the top export market with a 20 percent share, followed by South Korea and Vietnam and Indonesia. Turkey and Morocco were the largest growth markets in 2023, with increases of 48 percent and 39 percent, respectively, compared to 2022.
Northey frequently attended the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit while he was state agriculture secretary and often presented his biofuels marketer of the year awards there. “Bill has always been a thoughtful but forceful leader for farmers and rural America. He was an incredible friend to ethanol and biodiesel producers because he saw the big picture,” said Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw. “This wasn’t just about turning a profit – this was about preserving a way of rural life.”