US ethanol exports and imports grew in March to their highest year-to-date levels as exports rose 25,952 mt to 249,943 mt and imports climbed to 45,887 mt after not recording any for February, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The gain in overall exports was on the back of increased exports to North American Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and Mexico, the European Union, the Middle East, the Asia/Pacific region, countries in the Caribbean Basin Initiative and Africa, EIA said on its website.
Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) members are Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Montserrat, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
NAFTA exports escalated 27,081 mt to 78,358 mt, European Union exports edged up 1,630 mt to 30,090 mt, Middle East exports gained 2,884 mt to 30,716 mt, Asia/Pacific exports rose 2,006 mt to 12,287 mt, CBI imports jumped 12,036 mt to 12,537 mt, and Africa exports increased 6,269 mt to 9,528 mt.
The only global region to experience reduced US exports was South America, where ethanol exports shrank 25,952 mt to 30,090 mt, mainly on a reduced volume to Peru as there were no exports reported to Peru after 27,958 mt of ethanol was exported there in February.
Year-to-date for 2012, overall ethanol exports totaled 700,710 mt, with regional exports at 213,134 mt for NAFTA, 171,636 mt for South America, 169,881 mt for the European Union, 72,466 mt for the Middle East, 32,346 mt for the Asia/Pacific region, 20,812 mt for CBI nations, and 20,436 mt for Africa.
Although US March exports were 1,296 mt under where they were at this time last year, year-to-date totals for 2012 exceeded 2011 by 100,447 mt.
The US was still very much a net exporter as US imports for March totaled 45,887 mt, with 35,481 mt imported from Brazil and 10,406 mt from Jamaica.
There were no imports recorded at this time last year, and year-to-date totals for 2012 were at 49,648 mt, besting last year's year-to-date total through March by 46,321 mt.
Even though exports increased, the significant jump in imports could add to the length of supply in the US ethanol market, sources said.
US ethanol stocks for the reporting week that ended Friday were on a three-week climb to a month-high of 21.508 million barrels, according to weekly data released Wednesday by the EIA.
