China buys record amount of U.S. ethanol

China, already the biggest market for U.S. agricultural products, is a growing buyer of ethanol, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday. China bought 32.5 million gallon of ethanol, valued at $57 million, in October. That was 46 percent of all U.S. ethanol exports for the month, USDA says. The 32.5 million gallons was more ethanol than China bought in the previous 10 years combined, USDA says.  A 2014 USDA-led trade mission to China, which included representatives from 28 U.S. companies and nine state departments of agriculture, contributed to the jump in ethanol exports, USDA says. Overall U.S. ag exports to China have tripled over the past decade, with the Chinese now accounting for about 20 percent of all U.S. ag exports.