Please note that the Ethanol Market and Pricing Data report will not be published for the week of December 31st, 2025. We will resume publishing on Wednesday, January 7th, 2026.
Ethanol, Fuels and Co-Product Pricing
Market Outlook: U.S. ethanol prices ended last week 0.4 percent lower and were weaker still in early week trading to fall 2.5 percent through Tuesday’s close. Midwest wholesale rack ethanol prices were weaker to end last week but were down 1.4 percent through Tuesday’s market close to their last quote of 48.04 cents/liter (181.87 cents/gallon).
FOB Houston ethanol prices finished last week 11.4 percent lower and are down 2.1 percent through Tuesday’s trading from Friday’s close. FOB Houston ethanol prices are quoted at 44.51 cents/liter (168.49 cents/gallon). FOB Santos, Brazil anhydrous ethanol prices were lower last week; they are down in early week trading, falling 2.1 percent to 58.52 cents/liter (221.53 cents/gallon) through Tuesday’s close.
The FOB Gulf-Santos, Brazil ethanol spread has narrowed from last week’s close through Tuesday’s trading and is currently at -14.01 cents/liter (-53.04 cents/gallon).
MTBE prices fell 21.7 percent last week and maintained that beraish trend in early week trading to fall 5.8 percent from Friday’s close through Tuesday’s trading. MTBE’s premium to FOB Houston ethanol has decreased from last week’s report and stands at 2.36 cents/liter (8.93 cents/gallon).
BTX component prices were mixed last week but were sharply lower through Tuesday’s market close: Benzene was down 0.8 percent while Toluene was down 5.7 percent, and Xylene was down 3.5 percent. The estimated weighted average aromatic price is currently 65.97 cents/liter (249.72 cents/gallon), down from last Friday’s close. The BTX-Houston ethanol spread narrowed last week, and the weighted average BTX price is 21.46 cents/liter (81.23 cents/gallon) higher than the FOB Houston ethanol price.
Gasoline and petroleum products were mostly lower last week but showed mixed trends in early week trade. RBOB futures are up 2.2 percent to start the week while FOB Prices for 87 CBOB and 87 conventional gasoline are down 0.1 and 0.5 percent, respectively. WTI futures are 3.3 percent higher at $58.41/barrel while Brent futures are up 3 percent to $61.84/barrel, from Friday to Tuesday’s close.
Liquid tanker rates are 0.1 percent lower on average this week with offers for the U.S. Gulf to Saudi Arabia seeing the largest gains (up 13 percent). Freight from the U.S. Gulf to the East Coast of Mexico saw the largest declines and is down 20 percent from last week. On average, tanker freight from the U.S. Gulf is up 1 percent this week while freight from the PNW has posted a 1 percent decline. Liquid tanker freight rates from Brazil are down 7 percent, on average, this week. Freight rates across all origins are 14 percent higher than this same week in 2024.
On a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, offers are mostly lower this week as both freight rates and FOB ethanol offers have moved below last week’s values. Prices for ethanol C&F to Central America from the U.S. Gulf are down 2.5 percent this week and are down 3.6 percent from this same week in 2024. Values for PNW ethanol to Southeast Asia average $653.18/MT this week, down 2.5 percent from the prior week and down 1.2 percent year-over-year. That compares to U.S. Gulf to Southeast Asia C&F prices that average $637.59/MT and are down 1.4 percent from last week but are up 0.2 percent year-over-year. C&F prices for Brazilian ethanol to Southeast Asia are down 1.8 percent from last week.
