US Corn for Ethanol to Exceed Exports Soon – USDA

WASHINGTON – The United States, the longtime No 1 corn exporter in the world, will soon distill more corn to make the alterative fuel ethanol than it sells abroad, said the US Agriculture Department on Friday.

Mounting demand for crop-based fuels such as ethanol could one day have a bigger impact on US corn prices than other exporters exiting the market, said USDA chief economist Keith Collins.

Ethanol plants are popping up throughout the Midwest Corn Belt, and may soon start appearing in other parts of the United States. US President George W Bush recently pushed for more alternative fuel use to reduce dependence on oil from the Middle East.

“I think ethanol, rather than China, could be the No 1 factor affecting corn prices in the future,” Collins told some 1,500 agricultural analysts, experts and government officials at the USDA’s annual Outlook Forum.

Reuters