Fuel Ethanol (Anhydrous, Denatured & Undenatured)

Anhydrous fuel-grade ethanol bought on water, ethanol content and denaturant

Fuel ethanol is bought on a short sheet that decides whether it can go into gasoline at all: ethanol content, water, denaturant, acidity, sulphur, inorganic chloride, copper and gum. The two standards a blender writes against are ASTM D4806 in the Americas, which covers denatured fuel ethanol for blending with gasoline, and EN 15376 in Europe, which sets the ethanol blending component for E5 and E10 petrol. Both are anhydrous specifications: water is held to a fraction of a per cent because hydrous ethanol phase-separates out of gasoline in a wet tank, so the number that most often fails a cargo at discharge is water picked up in shore tanks, lines or a poorly dried ship. The customs split follows the denaturant. Undenatured ethyl alcohol of 80% vol or higher is HS 2207.10; denatured ethyl alcohol, with gasoline or another approved denaturant added at the plant, is HS 2207.20, and the destination's excise and customs regime decides which one an importer is allowed to receive. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations put HS 2207 at 13.53 million MT, led by the USA at 7.44 million MT, Brazil at 1.52 million MT, the Netherlands at 1.35 million MT, Hungary at 0.67 million MT and Pakistan at 0.50 million MT. The denatured book is concentrated: the USA declared 4.00 million MT of the 4.59 million MT exported under HS 2207.20, with the Netherlands next at 0.24 million MT. Under HS 2207.10 the USA declared 3.44 million MT, Brazil 1.50 million MT, the Netherlands 1.12 million MT and Pakistan 0.45 million MT.

Ethanol is UN 1170, a Class 3 flammable liquid with a flash point well below 23 °C, and moves as liquid bulk in product and chemical tankers or in ISO tanks for smaller lots. Sustainability paperwork matters as much as the COA for a European or UK blender: crop ethanol counts toward transport targets only with an ISCC EU or equivalent recognised-scheme proof of sustainability (PoS) carrying the GHG saving, and the PoS chain must be unbroken from the distillery through every trader to the buyer's tank. Into the EU, the customs status of the goods (T1 non-Union or T2 Union goods) is stated on the transit document and must match the price basis. Pricing is a differential to a published assessment, typically Argus or Platts T2 FOB Rotterdam for Europe, Chicago and US Gulf ethanol assessments (Argus, Platts, OPIS) for US-origin barrels, with US RIN value and UK or EU ticket and certificate value treated as separate items in the negotiation. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers fuel ethanol between distilleries, trader positions and blending buyers on FOB, CFR and CIF terms, against SGS or Intertek certification at load of ethanol content, water, methanol, denaturant, acidity, sulphur and chlorides, a certificate of origin and the PoS where required. Because CBIL runs a chartering desk (LaycanDesk) that works product and chemical tankers, the freight leg can be quoted with the cargo. Send the standard, denatured or undenatured, the quantity, the discharge port and the certification scheme you report under.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.