PODCAST: Rising coronavirus cases present potential renewed demand for US ethanol, IPA

HOUSTON (ICIS)– Rising coronavirus cases in both the US and Europe are presenting the potential for increased demand for both the industrial ethanol and isopropanol (IPA) markets.

Industrial ethanol expansions have been announced due to long term expectations for increased demand, with some expected online this quarter.

Pacific Ethanol also said it will be shifting its focus from the fuel market to specialty applications.

After IPA prices have fallen considerably since prices rose in late Q1 and early Q2 because of their application in products that surged due to the pandemic, such as hand sanitizer.

However, the past week was marked by both rising prices in Europe due to fear of future constraints and the first set of price increase nominations from a distributor within the US since the middle of Q2.

IPA and ethanol experts Deniz Koray and Alex Snodgrass discuss this and more in this podcast interview by Anna Matherne.