>From The Kiplinger Letter, Sept 9, 2011
The following excerpt surprised me: * * * ENERGY: The U.S. is on track to become the world's largest exporter of ethanol. Exports of 1 billion gallons this year... 1.1 billion, next...surpass Brazil's total. Lousy harvests and the resulting high sugar prices have the South American nation importing ethanol rather than making an excess from abundant sugar supplies. Just three years ago, the U.S. was a net importer of ethanol. Now, despite high prices for the corn used as a feedstock here, U.S. makers have the lowest cost of production. In July, the U.S. exported 120 million gallons, six times more than July 2010. After Brazil, big customers are Mexico, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Europe. Also up: Exports fo distiller dried grains, an ethanol by-product that's used as an animal feed. For Jan. -June 2011...a 53% increase over last year's export levels. * * * Cheers. Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks