US to import Brazilian ethanol

The US will be importing ethanol from Brazil as there was an 81% rally in domestic prices this year.

Chembulk Ulsan is set to deliver 5.3 million gallons of ethanol to the Port of Tampa, Florida next month, after collecting it from Brazil's Port of Santos on April 3.

The shipment will be sent from Brazil's largest ethanol exporter, Copersucar SA, based in Sao-Paulo.

Tarcilo Rodrigues, a director at Sao Paulo-based trading company Bioagencia says: 'The US is a buyer, especially in the past three weeks, after prices jumped. Unfortunately, Brazilian distillers don't have a lot of ethanol in storage to export.'

Last year, the US imported 7.29 million barrels of ethanol, down 38% from 2012, after a record corn crop increased supplies of the biofuel-making raw material, data from the Energy Information Administration shows.