EthylChem’s product is ethanol. Ethanol is a clear, almost odorless chemical made from a variety of feedstocks, such as corn (mainly in the United States, Canada and Europe), wheat (mainly in Europe), sugarcane (mainly in Brazil and India) and even crude oil (mainly in a few petrochemical plants at selected sites worldwide).

Ethanol is used as a raw material in several industrial applications, such as coatings, adhesives and pharmaceuticals, but its largest use worldwide and especially in the United States and Brazil is in gasoline as a high-octane, clean-burning, renewable fuel. EthylChem’s ethanol production is used as a fuel, and the United States is the primary market.

In the U.S., almost 90% of gasoline contains 10% ethanol. A small volume of U.S. gasoline also contains 85% ethanol blended with 15% unleaded regular gasoline, but only specially made, “flex-fuel” vehicles can use this blend.

Anhydrous ethanol (99.5% ethanol) is shipped from Trinidad to markets on the U.S. East Coast, Gulf Coast and West Coast where it is then blended with the gasoline and delivered to service stations for consumer use.