Brazil leaves ethanol out of U.S. tariff talks; July WASDE holds corn-ethanol demand steady

Brazil is keeping ethanol out of its tariff negotiations with Washington even as both governments say the broader talks are moving, according to reports out of Brasilia. For US ethanol producers who hoped trade pressure might open up one of their larger export markets, that leaves the door where it was.

Brazilian officials told outlets including ChiniMandi and DatamarNews that ethanol stays off the agenda while the two sides work through the rest of the tariff file. The status quo holds. US shippers looking for a break on Brazilian duties do not get one out of this round, and the talks continue with no signal that ethanol comes up next.

The WASDE hold

USDA's July WASDE left its forecast for corn used in ethanol during the 2026-'27 marketing year unchanged, per Ethanol Producer Magazine. No revision up, no revision down. For anyone running a plant or buying corn against ethanol margins, a flat number says the government still sees grind demand holding about where it was. The crush math does not move on a report that stands pat.

A plant turns to compute

In Hopewell, Virginia, officials are weighing a data center on the site of a former ethanol plant, The Progress Index reports. It is a small item on its own. It fits a pattern worth tracking, though: idle biofuel sites can be worth more to some buyers as power-hungry compute real estate than as fuel plants. A plant that converts to a data center is capacity that likely does not come back to fuel.

Pump prices

Retail gasoline climbed across the Philadelphia region over the past day, with 6abc reporting drivers worried about the cost. No cause is attached in the coverage, so read it as a regional move rather than a national one. For c-store operators, higher street prices can thin gallons even while they widen the margin on each one sold.

What to watch

Whether ethanol ever lands on the US-Brazil agenda before the talks close, since producers have little way to push for it as long as it stays off. The August WASDE, for any change to the corn-for-ethanol line that held flat this month. And whether the Hopewell conversion clears, because more retired plants could follow the same route if the economics keep favoring data centers over distillation. On the street, watch whether the regional price climb spreads or proves to be a local blip.