News

Official: Ethanol still profitable, despite record inventories

Inventories of ethanol hit a record high of 23.7 million barrels last week. But a Midwestern ethanol official says despite the buildup of stocks, the industry is still profitable.

“There’s good profits in it right now,” says Ray Defenbaugh, president, CEO and chairman of West Burlington, Iowa-based ethanol producer Big River Resources. “I got a call today from one of our plants and they could lock in 25 cents. That’s a good margin, 15 to 25 cents.”

Defenbaugh says ethanol inventories should start to shrink as summer driving season picks up.

Big River Resources operates four ethanol plants in Iowa and Illinois.

AUDIO: Ray Defenbaugh