FTC issues annual report on ethanol market concentration
Summary
As in prior years, the FTC’s analysis determined that there is sufficient competition among industry participants to avoid price-setting and other anticompetitive behavior. “Successful anticompetitive coordination at a national level would require agreement among a very large number of competitors and thus is similarly unlikely. Moreover, imports and the possibility of entry would likely impede the exercise of market power by any group of domestic firms.” According to the report, more than 100 firms produced ethanol in 2022. The largest ethanol producer’s share of domestic capacity is approximately 17 percent, flat with the previous year. The report shows that domestic ethanol production capacity increased slightly when compared to the previous year.