Well, yet another ethanol manufacturing plant "bites the dust"! Loss of tax credits and subsidies, the severe drought in corn producing States and sky high corn prices are squeezing profits on many plants so much, many are operating in "the red" and are being forced to shutdown. I lost count, but I think that well over 15-20 plants have either shutdown altogether or "idled" to minimum production capacity.
I do hope that with a new President and hopefully a conservative Congress and Senate after the November 6th elections, that inroads can be made in either eliminating this EPA's ethanol mandate madness or at least reducing it substantially.
"Pete"
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Biofuel Energy idles Minnesota ethanol plant
Sept
24 |
(Reuters)
- Ethanol producer Biofuel Energy Corp said it has decided to idle its
Fairmont, Minnesota, facility due to weakening margins as corn prices continue to soar.
"Commodity margins have continued to weaken as
the impact of the drought in the Corn Belt continues and ethanol remains in
surplus," said Chief Executive Scott Pearce.
Drought has ravaged this year's U.S. corn crop, which
is used in food products, livestock feed as well as to produce ethanol, pushing
up the prices of the commodity.