This past week, a U.S. Grains Council (USGC) delegation joined USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor on an Agricultural Trade Mission (ATM) to India. Like all ATMs, this mission allowed the Council and its members to participate in high-level discussions with potential importers on the ground.
In addition to ATM activities, the Council partnered with the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) to host the U.S.-India Biofuels Summit, allowing attendees to discuss ways for the U.S. and India to work toward the expansion of ethanol use in India, including its goals of reaching an E20 blend rate by 2025/2026. The summit also explored ways to expand ethanol’s use in India as it pursues its net-zero goals for 2070.
Attended by more than 150 delegates, the summit included five panels with featured speakers including Taylor, USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator Ambassador Doug McKalip and the chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Limited S.M. Vaidya. In the middle of the day, the Council signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Uttar Pradesh Distillers’ Association (UPDA), highlighting the importance of India’s corn ethanol sector.
“Our MOU with UPDA is a thrilling development in our engagement with the Indian ethanol sector,” said Reece H. Cannady, USGC regional director for South Asia. “Having U.S. government and Indian stakeholders to witness the agreement further solidified our support for India’s initiatives in the ethanol space.”
India is currently the third-largest market for U.S. ethanol for the 2023/2024 marketing year and trails the second-place market by less than one million gallons. Currently, ethanol is only traded with India for industrial purposes, with trade seeing a sizable expansion after tariffs were eliminated on imports in early 2023. Ethanol imports for fuel blending are currently not permissible.
“When it comes to agricultural trade with India, ethanol is a significant factor,” said USGC Chairman Brent Boydston. “Last marketing year, ethanol was the second-largest agricultural export from the U.S. to India, and there is still so much room to grow, whether it be via fuel ethanol market access or an expansion of ethanol’s use in home cooking fuel, sustainable aviation fuel, or corn for ethanol production in India.”
On the sidelines of the summit, the Council was able to meet with ethanol importers as well as visit an ethanol plant in India. The plant, located in Muzaffarnagar, is one of many new investments that has been made in corn ethanol as India diversifies from its historical use of sugarcane for ethanol production.
“These ATMs are of critical importance to the Council’s mission of developing markets, enabling trade, and improving lives,” said USGC President and CEO Ryan LeGrand. “They create a venue for us to discuss our initiatives in each country. Our current view on India is that not only is it an exceptional story in ethanol’s use as a clean fuel, but it also highlights a collaborative opportunity where we can unite with our partner country in expanding ethanol’s global acceptance via trade.”
In 2022, total U.S. agricultural and related product exports to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka exceeded $2.5 billion, with January – October 2023 exports reaching more than $1.7 billion. India leads the region as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Its modern retail sector, including a rapidly expanding middle class and a highly efficient e-retail sector, presents newfound opportunities for a diverse range of U.S. exports.
About The U.S. Grains Council
The U.S. Grains Council develops export markets for U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and related products including distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and ethanol. With full-time presence in 28 locations, the Council operates programs in more than 50 countries and the European Union. The Council believes exports are vital to global economic development and to U.S. agriculture’s profitability. Detailed information about the Council and its programs is online at www.grains.org.