Ethanol, also called grain alcohol or ethyl alcohol is a chemical produced by the fermentation of sugars from grains and various other biomass materials. Ethanol is used in multiple applications such as fuel/gasoline additive, solvent, disinfectant, etc., in end-user industries like automotive, pharmaceutical, food & beverage, cosmetics, and personal care industry. According to BlueQuark Research & Consulting, the global ethanol market is expected to witness considerable growth throughout the forecast due to the increasing adoption of biofuels to reduce greenhouse emissions and the environment-friendly nature of ethanol. In 2019, the global manufacture of ethanol stood at 126.3 million liters, led by the U.S., Brazil, India, Thailand, Canada, China, and Argentina, among others.

First-generation biofuels are made from feedstocks, including sugar, starch, oilseed, and animal fats. Through fermentation, these crops are converted into bio-alcohols (butanol, propanol, ethanol, etc.). Among these bio-alcohols, ethanol is the extensively used biofuel. More than 98% of gasoline in the U.S. contains ethanol, typically E10 (10% ethanol, 90% gasoline), to oxygenate the fuel and decrease air pollution. Ethanol and gasoline mixture are available in various compositions, including E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) and E15 (15% ethanol, 85% gasoline). E85 blend can be utilized in flexible fuel vehicles (designed to operate on any mixture of gasoline and ethanol up to 83%). Currently, in the U.S., there are over 3500 public E85 stations in 42 states providing high-level ethanol blends to nearly 21 million flexible-fuel automobiles. E15 is authorized for the model year 2001 and newer light-duty vehicles. The carbon dioxide emitted from the cars using blends of gasoline and ethanol is offset by the carbon dioxide occupied when feedstock crops are grown for ethanol production. The adoption of ethanol as a biofuel has increased with the increasing focus of many countries on bringing down carbon emissions. Brazil has initiated a long-term policy for ethanol called RenovaBio to reach the environmental commitments of the Paris Agreement. To achieve that aim, Brazil has to increase ethanol production from the current 33 billion liters to around 50 billion liters by 2030. Across the world, there are over sixty countries with ethanol blending policies. Markets in the U.S. and China are working to achieve their goals. In India (one of the significant gasoline consumers in the world), the govt. has signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in biofuels with the Brazilian government. The considerable advantage of the ethanol blend is an instant CO2 reduction without charging costly changes in the infrastructure, and it also assures jobs and incomes in rural areas dependent on the cultivation of crops. In the past, the usage of biofuels could be observed only in passenger vehicles and road freight. Currently, it is consumed in road freight, passenger vehicles, and shipping. According to International Energy Agency, in the next five years, the aviation industry is also probably to start the usage of biofuels.

On 7 January 2020, Clariant signed a license agreement on its sunliquid cellulosic ethanol technology. That license has been granted to a joint venture between Anhui Guozhen and Chemtex, planning to realize a full-scale commercial cellulosic ethanol plant. The J.V. will execute the operation at a greenfield site in Fuyang city in the Anhui sector, in the Yangtze-Huai River region in East China. The contribution of biofuel to the transportation fuel supply is about 10%. Renewable Fuel Association President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Geoff Cooper declared in a statement, "Today's grain-based ethanol decreases greenhouse gas emissions by 35% to 50% compared to gasoline, and USDA reports that appearing technologies promise to boost that reduction to approximately 70% in just the next few years."

The global ethanol market is fragmented based on grade, technology, application, and end use industry. The grade segment is further consolidated as industrial, pharmaceutical, food, and others. The application is further segmented as Fuel/Gasoline Additive, Disinfectant, Solvent, Essences, Flavorings, etc. The technology fragment is further segmented as Dry Mill and Wet Mill. The end-user segment is additionally in Automotive, Pharmaceutical, Personal Care, Cosmetics, and others.

In the pharmaceutical industry, ethanol is used to manufacture various products, including antiseptics, drugs, anesthetics, salves, and lotions. Ethanol utilized in pharmaceutical applications must be of high purity and compliant with bodies such as the FDA, European Pharmacopoeia, and ISO 9001:2008. Ethanol is an active ingredient in several oral, prescription, and nonprescription drugs. It is used due to its solvent characteristics to solubilize medicine. Ethanol concentrations above 40% can also be detected in some oral preparations. In 2019, worldwide medicine spending was valued at USD 1,257.4 billion, a surge of about 4% compared to the preceding year. Global sales from transported drugs and medicines in 2019 are revenue at USD 392.9 billion, a rise of 3.2% compared to 2018. Europe reported about 80% of the total global exports, with shipments worth USD 317.1 billion. Major countries in the export of medicines and drugs include Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Belgium, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark. The top 10 countries provide for about 75% of total exports. All these countries are dependent on giving ethanol imports to operate the production of drugs smoothly. The outburst of the Covid-19 pandemic did not impact the collection of critical ingredients and chemicals by the drug manufacturers. However, with the limitations on the movements of goods and public and the halted operations of the chemical producing facilities, the pharmaceutical sector is predicted to face a low/sluggish supply issue (the majority of pharmaceutical industry vital ingredients are supplied by China). This trend of inconsistent supply is also awaited to promote the domestic production of crucial elements for several countries with abundant raw materials.

The global ethanol market is fragmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Middle East & Africa based on geography. The North American region is expected to dominate the market, followed by South America and the Asia Pacific in the forecasted period. The United States is awaited to maintain its dominance in both production and consumption during the forecasted period.

With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S., the GDP growth rate for the first quarter of 2020 was -4.8%, in contrast to the growth rate of 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2019. The ethanol industry impacts the country's economy through forwarding and backward linkages to other sectors. The backlink is to agriculture. In 2019, the ethanol sector contributed about USD 43 billion to the country's GDP and supported nearly 350,000 jobs. That contribution to the GDP is predicted to come down in 2020. As of January 2019, the ethanol manufacture capacity in the country stood at 16.5 billion gallons per year. Brazil and Canada are the main ethanol trade partners for the U.S. The manufacture of ethanol in the country declined in March and April, impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, there has been a hike in ethanol production in the last two weeks. U.S. ethanol plants are concentrated in the Midwest due to corn production availability. Plants located away from the Midwest typically procure corn by rail or use other feedstocks near large population centers. In 2018, U.S. highway gasoline consumption surged to approximately 135 billion gallons. The usage of ethanol in the country has been severely affected by the declined consumption of gasoline. About 98% of the gas sold in the country contains ethanol to support the complete combustion of the gas inside the engine and decrease the emissions. As of 20 April 2020, about 70 ethanol facilities with an annual manufacturing capacity of 6.2 billion gallons have been fully idled, and approx 70 more plants decreased their operating rates. The short-term outlook for ethanol in the U.S. looks negative with the delayed operations. However, the market for ethanol in the U.S. is likely to enhance from the beginning of 2021 with the growing consumption of gasoline and other end-user industries, including food & beverage and pharmaceutical, among others.

Some of the market key players are POET LLC, Green Plains Inc., BP Bunge Bioenergia, Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), and Flint Hills Resources. The companies in the market aim to utilize the total capacity of the existing facilities to meet the surging demand for ethanol across the world.

Green Plains announced the victorious start-up of its high protein ingredient manufacture facility and the first shipment from its biorefinery in Shenandoah, Iowa.

Green Plains provides FDA-approved, FCC-grade alcohol to Xerox Holdings Corporations as both companies work to curb the expansion of Covid-19 nationally.

In January 2020, Reports broadcasted that Archer Daniels Midland is currently negotiating with five parties to execute the company's possible partial or complete exit from the ethanol industry. ADM's total ethanol manufacture capacity is 1.7 billion gallons per year.

In January 2020, Corporate Vision Magazine awarded POET "Ethanol Producers of the Year." POET is acknowledged for its innovative work to grow efficiency in ethanol manufacture.

Our Global Ethanol Market report provides deep insight into the current and future state of the Ethanol Markets across various regions. The study comprehensively analyzes the Ethanol Market by segments based on Grade (Industrial Grade, Pharmaceutical Grade, Food Grade, and Other Grades), By Application (Fuel/Gasoline Additive, Solvent, Disinfectant, Essences and Flavorings, and Others), By Technology (Dry Mill, Wet Mill), by end-user (Automotive, Pharmaceutical, Food & Beverage, Personal Care, and Cosmetics, and other end-users), and by Geography (Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle-East and Africa). The report examines the market drivers and restraints, along with the impact of Covid-19 on market growth, in detail. The study covers & includes emerging market trends, market developments, market opportunities, market size, market price, market analysis, market dynamics, and challenges in the industry. This report also covers extensively researched competitive landscape sections with profiles of prominent companies, including their market share and projects.