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Naig says ethanol exports gaining steam in Japan, South Korea

Iowa’s Ag Secretary says he’s optimistic U.S. biofuel exports will continue to increase.

Mike Naig tells Brownfield ethanol was a key topic during his recent trade mission to Japan and South Korea. He says Japan shows significant potential to expand its imports of U.S. ethanol.

“They are looking at some new rules around biofuels and looking at potentially increasing the blend level,” Naig said. “They have a very low blend level of ethanol right now. We would like to see them go to 3% or even 10%. That would be a huge upside for U.S. agriculture.”

He says South Korea is Iowa’s second largest international market for ethanol.

“In South Korea, you’ve got usage within the country, but also they do some exporting out of South Korea as well into countries and other markets in Asia,” Naig said. “There is absolutely an upside there.”

Naig says U.S. ethanol can help other countries lower emissions.

The 16-member trade mission was coordinated by the Iowa Economic Development Authority.