South Korea imported 4,055 mt of denatured ethanol from Brazil in September, after an absence of close to two years, according to customs data released Tuesday.
Brazil last shipped 6,231 mt of denatured ethanol to South Korea in October 2011, customs data showed.
Overall, South Korea imported 17,491 mt of ethanol in September, up 4% from August and up 14.15% year on year.
There was also more undenatured imports than denatured material in September as compared to August.
South Korea's second biggest source of denatured ethanol for September was South Africa, which provided 1,231 mt, up 212% from August.
However, denatured imports from Vietnam fell 74% to 877 mt, and Pakistani denatured cargoes fell 51% to 1,499 mt over the same period. Month on month, denatured imports were up 12.5% at 7,797 mt, and up 11.7% compared to a year ago.
But undenatured ethanol imports slipped 1.5% in September to 9,694 mt, mainly due to a 45% drop in Pakistani product to 1,938 mt.
However, imports from Brazil and Australia helped offset the fall in product from Pakistan, with Brazil supplying 3,695 mt of ethanol, an increase of 24% from August; and Australia 4,395 mt, up 5% over the same period.
Undenatured ethanol is typically used in beverages, while denatured ethanol has chemical additives to make it inedible and is used mainly for fuel blending, pharmaceuticals and as a feedstock for petrochemicals.
