Figures released this week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed U.S. ethanol exports for May fell to a 9-month low. They totaled 55.7 million gallons, a drop of 42% or 40 million gallons from April.
The Renewable Fuels Association indicated that Canada replaced China as the top destination. Nearly 21.5 million gallons were shipped to our neighbors to the north while 19.6 million gallons were sent to China. The two countries accounted for nearly 75% of all U.S. ethanol exports in May.
May exports of U.S. denatured fuel ethanol fell 16% from the prior month to 31.0 mg. Most denatured product (19.4 mg, or 62%) crossed the border to Canada or was shipped to China (10.0 mg, 32%), with the remainder heading to Peru (1.7 mg). May exports of U.S. undenatured fuel ethanol sank 58% from April to 22.0 mg. Top customers were China (9.7 mg, or 44%), Brazil (6.0 mg, or 27%), South Korea (2.5 mg, or 11%) and Mexico (1.7 mg, or 8%). Several regular export markets with large volumes in April (e.g., India, the Philippines) were absent from the ledgers in May.
The first noticeable volumes of imports entered the United States in May, with 1.8 mg of undenatured ethanol coming from Guatemala and less than 20,000 gallons from the UK and France. Year-to-date fuel ethanol imports are just 1.9 mg, putting the U.S. on pace to import 4.6 mg in 2016.