U.S. Ethanol Exports Running Ahead of 2025 Record Pace

2026 could be another record year for U.S. ethanol exports.

Renewable Fuels Association CEO Geoff Cooper says through April the pace is 13 percent ahead of last year.

“And last year was a record for ethanol exports. We had 2.2 billion gallons in ethanol exports last year, that means about 1 out of 8 gallons produced in the U.S. was exported.”

He says the U.S. is on track to beat that by a sizeable margin.

“We’re on track to be somewhere around 2.5 billion gallons of ethanol exports in 2026.”

Cooper says Canada continues to be the top importer of U.S. ethanol, and there’s growth in the European Union.

EDITOR’S TAKE:

Excellent news for the corn market. Although corn prices have not been bullish yet, news of this nature will certainly provide a much better foundation for improvement going forward. Combine exports of ethanol and a challenging weather forecast in many areas of the corn belt and we could see corn prices rise significantly this summer. Although price improvements may be stifled to some extent by increased input costs and, thus, keep margins more constrained. Only time and Mother Nature will reveal the true outcome.

Any improvement will help loosen the purse strings of farmers and send them into your showroom. Always be sure to ask that all important question upfront: “Are you a farmer/rancher?” If so, talk to them about your status as a CAD member and introduce them to all the great programs and services you can offer.