The United States exported 87,000 barrels per day of fuel ethanol in 2020, marking the second consecutive annual drop in U.S. fuel ethanol exports and the lowest level since 2015. U.S. fuel ethanol imports also decreased in 2020. In 2020, the United States exported more fuel ethanol than it imported for the 11th consecutive year.
Annual U.S. fuel ethanol exports fell by 9 percent in 2020. At the same time, the number of export destinations increased from 44 in 2019 to 52 in 2020. Approximately 40 percent of all U.S. fuel ethanol exports went to Brazil and Canada, although both countries decreased their imports of fuel ethanol from the United States compared with 2019.
Brazil, the world’s second-largest producer and consumer of fuel ethanol, decreased its imports of U.S. fuel ethanol significantly for the second consecutive year, dropping to 13,000 barrels per day in 2020. Ethanol consumption is high in Brazil because of its fuel ethanol blending requirement,