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Competition / Competitors According to the RFA, for the year ended 2005 the United States accounted for roughly 35.1% of global ethanol production. Research indicates the world's ethanol producers compete primarily on a regional basis; high transportation costs prohibit extensive trade between regions, except in regions where there are not sufficient local supply sources. Furthermore, a United States tariff of $0.54 per gallon increases costs for importers, although imports from certain countries are exempt, up to a specified limit, from this tariff. As of June 2006, in the United States, there are 86 producers using 101 plants. The top ten producers account for approximately 46.3% of total capacity of approximately 4.8 billion gallons (see table below). The remaining producers primarily consist of farmer cooperatives. United States Ethanol Production Capacity—Top Ten Producers Annual Capacity (mil. gallons) --------------- Archer-Daniels-Midland 1070 VeraSun Energy Corporation 230 Hawkeye Renewables, LLC 200 Aventine Renewable Energy, LLC 150 Cargill, Inc. 120 Abengoa Bioenergy Corp. 110 New Energy Corp. 102 Midwest Grain Processors 95 MGP Ingredients, Inc. 78 Tate & Lyle 67 --------------- TOTAL 2,222 --------------- ------- Source: RFA, as of June 2006.