Biofuel Manufacturing Industry Profile

The biofuel manufacturing industry in the US includes about 300 companies with combined annual revenue of about $19 billion. Major biofuels producers include Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill, Chevron, Green Plains Renewable Energy, Valero, and Abengoa Bioenergy, which is based in the US but owned by Spanish engineering firm Abengoa.

Brazil and the EU are the largest biofuel manufacturers internationally. Major biofuels companies outside the US include BP in the UK; Eni in Italy; and Cosan and Copersucar in Brazil.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven by federal legislation and regulations that establish a government-mandated market for biofuels. The profitability of biofuel production facilities depends on prices of gasoline and diesel, which fluctuate based on world petroleum demand and domestic refinery utilization. Economies of scale in ethanol production are limited due to the transportation costs associated with gathering feedstocks (corn and other biomasses) and transporting the ethanol to blending sites. As a result, large companies operate multiple production facilities. Small companies can compete effectively by developing business relations with distributors and by delivering consistently.

Ethanol imports account for about 3 percent of the US market and come mainly from Brazil, the second largest producer of ethanol after the US. Ethanol exports, mainly to Canada and the Netherlands, account for about 2 percent of US production.The industry is capital-intensive: average annual revenue per employee in ethanol production facilities is about $2 million per year.

Biofuels is ...