Ethanol industry on the rebound

The North American ethanol industry is nothing if not persistent and innovative, qualities which have served the sector well in the past and are set to play a central role in helping to secure a sustainable place within the net-zero future of the world.
Buoyed in the US by the Inflation Reduction Act and the steady approach of future clean fuel policies and, in the US and Canada, by the potential of drawing on new commercial opportunities as a supplier into the sustainable aviation fuel market, ethanol production and use, continues to rebuild from the demand shocks of the Covid-19 years.
The US ethanol industry produced 15.4 billion gallons in 2022, an increase of 400 million gallons on 2021 output levels and a 10% rebound from the pandemic-damaged fuel market of 2020.
At an inclusion rate of 10.4%, ethanol also accounted for a record-high share of the US gasoline market last year, recording an upturn in domestic market fortunes alongside strong export sales into Canada, South Korea, Europe and a number of other markets.
The turnround in demand also helped create the highest ethanol plant profit margins since 2006, according to Geoff Cooper,...