FTC's 2012 Report Concludes U.S. Ethanol Market Remains Unconcentrated

The market for fuel ethanol in the United States remains unconcentrated, with 154 firms nationwide either producing ethanol or likely to be in production in the next 12 to 18 months, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s 2012 report on the state of U.S. ethanol production.

The FTC report is the agency’s eighth annual report on ethanol market concentration. FTC staff calculated market concentration for ethanol production using different measures.  The staff concluded that as of September 2012, there were 10 fewer ethanol producers in the United States than at the time of the FTC’s 2011 report on U.S. ethanol production.  The largest ethanol producer’s share of capacity decreased slightly to 11.1 percent of domestic ethanol production capacity – below the 11.5 percent share in 2011.

The annual reports are required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.  The 2012 report is available on the FTC’s website and as a link to this press release.  It was submitted to Congress and the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as required by the Act.  The Commission vote to issue the 2012 report, which was prepared by the staff of the Bureaus of Competition and Economics, was 5-0.  (FTC File No. P063000; the staff contact is John H. Seesel, Associate General Counsel for Energy, Office of the General Counsel, 202-326-2702.)

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