SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A bioethanol producer based in South Dakota is a big player in international exports.
POET ranked 15th in the country for container exports in 2024, according to the S&P Journal of Commerce.
POET exported more than 39,000 40-foot containers in 2024.
Those shipping containers were mostly full of dried distillers’ grains, a bioproduct of bioethanol production.
“The distillers’ grains… it goes into cattle, poultry, pig feed,” POET Director of Trading Andy Lindsay said.
POET ships to 25 countries.
“It mostly ends up going into southeast Asia or east Asia, so Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, but we do export products down into the Latin American market. We export a lot into Mexico, that’s going via rail rather than containers,” Lindsay said.
When it comes to international exports, Poet has topped some big names.
“POET exports more than some of these companies that we see all the time like Costco. That’s a pretty big deal for South Dakota,” South Dakota Trade President and CEO Jesse Fonkert said.
“Having access to these international markets boosts the value of these products. If we have to ship these all domestically and all locally, you’re going to get a lower value for your product, which having these international markets really does help increase the value of the product and that’s going to transition back to back to the local producers,” Lindsay said.
POET could be on pace to ship even more containers this year.
While POET is headquartered in Sioux Falls, it has bioprocessing facilities in several states.
