Maersk burns 100% US corn ethanol in first US ship-to-ship ethanol bunkering
Maersk fueled a deep-sea container ship with 100% US-produced corn ethanol at the Port of Houston, the first commercial ship-to-ship ethanol bunkering of its kind in US waters. Barge operator Kirby delivered the stem to the Tangier Maersk, a methanol dual-fuel vessel. The ethanol came from POET, the biggest US producer.
For anyone selling ethanol in this country, that matters. Domestic demand has been stuck against the E10 blend wall for years, and E15 adoption crawls. Marine fuel is a fresh outlet, and the customer here is one of the largest container lines on the water. Maersk says it ran the test to learn how to source ethanol and move it through existing infrastructure. The company already tested 100% ethanol on another methanol-capable ship, the Laura Maersk.
A single bunkering is not a market. But it puts a buyer with real tonnage in front of US producers, and it uses corn ethanol rather than an imported or advanced feedstock. Watch whether Maersk moves from tests to standing orders, and whether other lines with methanol dual-fuel ships follow.
Buffalo Biodiesel's Tonawanda permit
Buffalo Biodiesel got a Part 360 permit from the New York DEC for its Tonawanda processing plant. The company recycles used cooking oil into feedstock for renewable diesel and RNG plants. It spent close to $3 million on upgrades to meet the regulatory requirements and clear the permit.
President Frank Balon said the permit lets the company resume its development of the property and expand in New York rather than out of state. For a UCO collector, the site is the choke point. Without the permit the plant can't process. This one keeps feedstock supply for renewable diesel and RNG moving on the East Coast.
The overseas demand signal
India is pushing toward a 27% ethanol blending target, and one industry expert warned its sugar mills need better forecasting and coordination to hit it. That is India's domestic mandate, so it does not touch US pump prices directly. It does matter at the margin: more blending demand in a big producing country tightens the global feedstock and ethanol picture, which can firm export prices for US corn ethanol. Europe is running a parallel argument for renewable ethanol in transport. Neither is a lead for a US jobber, but both point the same direction on demand.
What to watch
Whether Maersk turns a single bunkering into repeat purchases, and whether rival container lines with methanol dual-fuel tonnage start buying US ethanol as marine fuel. On the biodiesel side, watch whether the Tonawanda restart adds real UCO throughput this quarter. No new RFS or RIN action crossed the wire in the last day.