Report: Japan’s ethanol blend level averages 1.8% in 2021
Summary
Due to a fire incident at a bio-ETBE production facility in Texas in early 2019, Japanese ethanol consumption fell 34 million liters short of the mandate in 2019. Refineries were required to make up the shortage in 2020, when Japanese ethanol consumption reached 850 million liters. Imported bio-ETBE represented approximately 94 percent of 2020 ethanol consumption, according to the GAIN report. As of September 2021, the report notes that imports of bio-ETBE and ethanol were on track to reach the required mandate targets, with current forecasts predicting Japan’s transportation sector will consume 823 million liters of ethanol in 2021. Direct U.S. ethanol exports are destined for industrial use and first shipped to bonded warehouses in South Korea, according to the report.