In this article the profitability of the bioethanol production in Germany is analysed under consideration of the international competition. Therefore, the production costs of bioethanol from wheat and beet in Germany as well as from sugar cane and corn in other representative countries are compared. Based on this, the competitiveness of imported as well as domestic bioethanol against gasoline on the German market are analyzed and the maximum payable feedstock price for sugar beet is calculated. The calculations lead to the result, that, despite the implemented mandatory blending, further cost reductions for the production of bioethanol in Germany are required in order to achieve competitiveness against imports, whereas the utilization of bioethanol is independent of the crude oil price within the targets of the mandatory blending scheme.
