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Ethanol plants “throttle back” a little

With the high price of corn due to the drought, ethanol plants are cutting back on production. Missouri Corn Growers’ CEO Gary Marshall says while some ethanol plants in other states have shut down, Missouri’s six ethanol plants are managing the situation.

“We’re having plants that are throttling back a little bit in their usage and that’s the same thing we’ve seen both with exports and also with animal and poultry numbers. All of those uses are throttling back as we’re looking at higher prices. The market is working the way it’s supposed to.”

Marshall says ethanol plants have become more efficient and there are other favorable factors.

“I think everybody’s just trying to get through these high prices and see what happens,” Marshall tells Brownfield Ag News, “Certainly, we’re seeing that around the world as we’re seeing more grain going into production in South America. We’re going to see more acres, I think, in Europe. So, as we get those new acres coming on board we’re going to see more of a worldwide supply and I don’t think we’re going to have an emergency have like maybe we thought we were going to have a couple of months ago.”

Marshall says a lot of ethanol plants are running close to full stream but certainly not above it right now.

As for calls that would waive the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) for ethanol, Marshall tells Brownfield Ag News, “If the yields continue the way we think they’re going to, we think that there’s enough corn out there to supply the market and the market will do a good job of rationing supply down. So, we look for some decrease in ethanol use but probably not a waiver granted by the EPA in the next 60 days or so.”