Fuel ethanol has grown into a major U.S. agricultural export, and shipments set a new record in the 2024/25 corn marketing year, according to a Chart of Note from USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS).

The United States exported 2.13 billion gallons of fuel ethanol during the September-to-August 2024/25 marketing year, surpassing the record set a year earlier by nearly 400 million gallons, or roughly 23 percent.

Over the past decade both the volume and the destinations of those exports have shifted. Brazil was once the top buyer of U.S. fuel ethanol, but as Brazil's own ethanol production has grown, its imports from the United States have declined.

The lost sales to Brazil have been more than offset elsewhere. Exports to Canada rose from 322 million gallons in 2019/20 to 758 million gallons in 2024/25, as Canadian demand grew under mandates for low-carbon and renewable fuels. The Netherlands also showed strong growth, importing 282 million gallons of U.S. fuel ethanol in 2024/25, up from 16 million gallons in 2015/16.

The export boom rests on corn. At 5.44 billion bushels, corn used for fuel ethanol accounted for 36 percent of total U.S. corn use in 2024/25. ERS adds that, although the chart does not show it, data for September through January of the 2025/26 marketing year put U.S. fuel ethanol exports 7 percent higher than in the same period of 2024/25.

For corn growers, ethanol exports have become a demand outlet in their own right, and one that keeps growing as foreign fuel mandates tighten. The chart, prepared by ERS economist Steven Ramsey, is drawn from the agency's Bioenergy Statistics data.

Source: USDA Economic Research Service