Mexico eyes US ethanol market after regaining sugar export quota
President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico is negotiating with the US to replace MTBE with ethanol in gasoline and cut corn-fructose imports, after regaining its sugar export quota. Ovaciones.com reports exports to the US had fallen to a fifth of prior volume between 2022 and 2026, hitting some 500,000 families.
Mexico looks to ethanol after regaining US sugar access
President Claudia Sheinbaum said the Mexican government is negotiating with the United States to replace MTBE with ethanol in gasoline and to cut imports of corn fructose, according to ovaciones.com. The initiative follows the recovery of Mexico's sugar export quota to the US market, a development the country's cane industry treats as the start of a new phase.
The higher import quota was announced by the US Department of Agriculture. Sheinbaum said it offers relief to a supply chain that sustains around 500,000 families, including cane growers, mills and traders. She attributed the recovery to negotiations led by Agriculture and Rural Development Secretary Julio Berdegué with US agriculture and commerce authorities.
Why the quota matters
Between 2022 and 2026, Mexican sugar exports to the United States fell to as little as a fifth of their previous volume, according to ovaciones.com. That excess supply remained inside the country, pushing down the prices producers received and eroding the profitability of the sector.
Sheinbaum argued that keeping part of national output committed to exports prevents domestic oversupply, supports the price paid to cane growers and reinforces the economic viability of the industry. She cautioned, however, that the quota recovery will benefit the current and next agricultural cycles, while terms for the following years will have to be renegotiated with the United States.
Ethanol as a new source of demand
The plan is not limited to restoring exports. Sheinbaum said authorities are working with producers and industrialists to raise cane productivity and to open new markets for the crop's derivatives. She singled out ethanol produced from sugar cane and from bagasse, the fibrous residue left after milling.
Mexico and the United States are in talks to substitute MTBE, an additive used in gasoline, with ethanol. Such a change would create fresh domestic demand for Mexican cane-based output and give the sector an outlet beyond the food market.
Fructose imports in the crosshairs
The administration also intends to reduce imports of corn fructose used by the beverage and processed-food industries. Sheinbaum said various studies attribute greater negative health effects to that sweetener than to cane sugar. The stated goal is to lift domestic consumption of Mexican sugar without harming consumers or food manufacturers, complementing the export strategy that keeps prices stable for growers.
