Posted on 03/13/2008 11:12:18 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Ethanol industry losing its momentum
By Michael Hooper | MORRIS NEWS SERVICE
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Story last updated at 3/11/2008 - 2:42 am
TOPEKA, Kan. - Tough times have struck the ethanol industry as profit margins have declined while corn prices have soared.
Last month, Cargill suspended development of an ethanol plant near Topeka. An ethanol plant that opened last fall in Pratt, Kan., already has stopped producing ethanol. A new biofuels plant in Mead, Neb., shut down last fall. Another ethanol plant in Canton, Ill., is in bankruptcy.
The industry was skyrocketing five years ago when the price of corn was around $2.40 per bushel, but corn is $5 per bushel and could go higher. That's a significant boost in a critical raw material for most ethanol plants.
Critics say too much capacity is contributing to the losses. Investors got too greedy too fast and now the industry is losing momentum.
"It's been a fast cash cow," said Richard Johnson, a rural Topeka resident who opposed Cargill's proposed ethanol plant. "People jumped on it. It's always been on the fast track, but a very select few get money off this, and others don't. When these plants shut down, who is going to clean up these sites?"
Others say the industry is just going through some growing pains and has a viable future, with subsidies from the federal government intended to increase ethanol production and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
Ethanol plants constructed a few years ago that have strong cash positions and reasonable debt levels will make it, experts said. But a downturn like this requires deep pockets. Some small players aren't going to make it, and consolidation and mergers are expected.
John Neufeld, chief risk officer of White Energy, of Dallas, which owns ethanol plants Hereford, Plainview and Russell, Kan., said the industry had to ramp up to meet government production targets.
"It's possible we overachieved it a bit," Neufeld said. He said plants that were already constructed and are managed well should be fine.
"The margins aren't huge, but they are enough to compensate for the higher grain prices and higher energy prices," Neufeld said.
Amen brother. My lawn mower does not like the crap and I am amazed that my vehicle will even burn it.
Wheat hit $24 per bushel recently, that is correct, $24.....
Last year it hit an all time high of $4.95. Expect Corn to do the same. At these rates, before long, one hamburger Patti will cost the consumer over 5 bucks. A chicken leg will sell for 3. And a loaf of bread will go for 7 or 8 bucks.
And add to that, the carbon credits scam that will be executed into law by any of the 3 candidates for POTUS, and the economic disaster coming will rewrite all the standards for the future.
Do you think they’ve figured out yet that their paltry “stimulus” will pale in relation to the tsunammi of inflation that is coming down the pike? Our economy is turning into a disaster thanks to totally misguided economic and enviornmental policies.
In the meantime, they are really ramping up drilling in Russia, China and off the coast of South America, where new and very large fields have been discovered.
Industry will leave this Socialist cesspool behind and go where the air is not taxed.
OK, now its time for Congress to open more federal land for drilling. Its absolutely mandatory (oil at $100 per barrel) that ANWR and both coasts be opened for offshore drilling. Remember it will take 7-10 years for that oil to come to market. Washington, stop dragging your feet.
Since when do we have an obligation to feed the rest of the world?
“Anybody not seeing this coming down the pike has been hitting that ol opium pipe a bit too much!”
Anyone over 35 should remember that we’ve seen how all this works before.
Kneejerk liberal reactions ALWAYS turn out badly...
If we were all "clean-platers" the world hunger problem would be solved.
OK, when "higher energy prices" negatively impact your product, it's time to admit it isn't an "energy product".
Corn is presently about $5.60 per bushel. An efficient plant will obtain 3 gallons of ethanol together with 18 pounds of DDG's (plus corn oil and CO2) from each bushel. The fuel and feed value, alone, of the bushel is worth over $10. If an operator can't process a bushel corn for five bucks, it really shouldn't be in business.
We don’t have such an obligation. However, if we burn a good portion of the food supply and prices go up significantly, people starve, and on a global scale we’re talking millions of people. While we have no explicit obligation to them, a sense of decency demands that we not take actions we know will kill others where our own survival is not at stake.
So the price of beef has not risen in proportion to the other food because there is a glut in the market right now.
What happens in 14 months after we have slaughtered the majority of our beef supply? How much will a pound of hamburger cost then?
sw
According to the Fed’s inflation model, when steak becomes too expensive, people substitute hamburger, and this is considered equivalent, economically. So when hamburger becomes too expensive, count on the fed advising a lateral move to dog food.
Any discussion of this problem is overshadowed by the population growth in the third world.Feeding them only postpones the inevitable.
There is no price support for corn. No need to.
People complain about farm bill but most of it
is food stamps and conservation expenses. CRP
pays to keep 31 million acres out of production.
All gasoline should have 10% etanol for clean burning
as it gets my engines extra mile per gallon.
And corn acreage last year was 92 million—if increased
a third we could put 10% ethanol in all gas.
Do the math. Most increases in corn acreage come from
former cotton acreage, a commodity in surplus around
the world. In fact up to 3 years ago we were being
sued through the WTO for dumping corn and cotton
on other countries hurting their farmers. The farmer owned
ethanol plants will do ok, but we have to get those big
companies that won’t use a 10% mix to do so.
They all want a shortage to keep prices up, and it
is these high energy prices causing everything
to be expensive, not putting corn into ethanol.
When a guy mows your 1000 sq ft lawn charges 50 bucks,
an auto worker get 50 bucks an hr, a lawyer get
50 bucks for 10 min, doctor the same, and all these
want more because of high energy costs, it ain’t the
corn or the farmer. Energy costs has triples fertilizer
cost in 4 years and doubled farm equipment costs,
and double farmland rent.It ain’t the corn, it the
speculation in energy.......Ed
You are correct. I know an ethanol plant that opened paying $1.50/bushel for corn. The manager is a 35-year old truck driver with no experience who can’t fluently read a newspaper.
Ownership is now counting on a new influx of money from a second plant and a biodiesel facility to cover going so far in the hole on the first plant.
Farm community expected the plants to be co-op
owned and run as a means to aid energy crisis
and help sell a product that for years they
could sell for enough to pay for raising it.
Then a few folks went at it like the oil companies
and computor companies and others do things
and they have problems. And big oil don’t want the competition, don’t want an easing of supplies,
want shortages, and they are the ones that have to
do the 10% blend. I ain’t going to give my life for
clean air crap, but i do care about gas that makes
my engines run better, the 10% blend, and I really
care about adding to energy supplies to cut
the price of oil. I rent land that is now
going to be continuous corn, my choice.It is
close to their barns so it get the manure needed.
But the way fertilizer, fuel, equipment costs impacting
the guys farming it they are just making expenses.
Unless corn stays at it’s temporary spring high
as theirs is all sold a month ago.Ed
“A sense of decency demands that we not take actions we know will kill others where our own survival is not at stake”
And Compasionate Conservatism is why this administration has cut funding to family planning services worldwide, even where they are just educating regarding preventing unwanted pregnancies rather than abortion.
Years ago when I first discovered that my brown bread was white bread with caramel color added, and that it takes 10 pounds of feed for every pound of beef and somewhat less for pigs and chickens I decided to eat less meat and more whole grains. Once I started the whole grains, my craving for meat dropped considerably. If you are eating refined starches, meat is one of the few dietary sources of the entire B Complex of vitamins. I also got Marie Lapee’s (sp?) book “Diet for a Small Planet”. This book tells how to mix various grains and legumes (peas, beans, etc.) so as to provide complete protein in a meal. I learned a lot and with the provided recipies enhanced my cooking range. So if you plan to cut back on animal protein, whether for ethical or financial reasons, this is a great book to follow.
“The next bubble will bust by the end of the year.”
After my first comment, I decided to look at the USO oil ETF google page. Pulled up several articles and found that there are now at least a half trillion dollars invested in them. Another article suggested that people may start moving their funds to other investments before long.
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