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European ethanol production improves

10th April, 2008

European bioethanol production increased over 10% in 2007.

Total EU production was around 1.77 billion litres, an increase of 13.5% compared to the previous two years. Ethanol production in the continent experienced a growth rate over 70% during the last two years.

The greatest production was achieved in France (578 million litres) where the production almost doubled. Germany (394 million litres) and Spain (348 million litres) were the next largest producers.

In seven out of 13 member states the production decreased compared to 2006 with the most significant decline in Sweden, which halved its production to 70 million litres.

In 2007 production capacity went on-stream for the first time in Slovakia (30 million litres) and the UK (20 million litres). The total number of countries producing fuel ethanol has now increased to 13.

High cereal prices have impacted the European market. Due to this the share of raw materials in bioethanol production costs went up to a level that made production no longer profitable.

EU consumption of bioethanol fuel in 2007 is estimated at close to 2.7 billion litres. Fuel ethanol imports have seen a record high in 2007 with an estimated volume of almost 1 billion litres. This equals nearly 37% of total EU consumption.

The imported ethanol originated from Brazil and was consumed mainly in Sweden, the UK and the Netherlands. Brazilian ethanol was also used in much smaller volumes in Denmark and Germany.