Ethanol Gains As Corn Posts Biggest Weekly Jump In 13 Months

Source: By Mario Parker, Bloomberg • Posted: Monday, June 25, 2012

Ethanol rose as corn capped the biggest weekly gain since May 2011 on speculation that warm, dry weather will stress crops next week.

The biofuel gained as the corn contract with the most interest soared 9.5 percent this week to $5.54 a bushel, raising the cost of ethanol production.

Producers are losing 8 cents on every gallon of ethanol made, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Valero Energy Corp. (VLO), the third-largest U.S. ethanol producer, this week idled output at its 110 million-gallon-a-year plant in Albion, Nebraska, as the biofuel struggles to keep pace with corn costs.

Denatured ethanol for July delivery rose 1.5 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $2.07 a gallon on the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices have fallen 6 percent this year.

In cash market trading, ethanol in the U.S. Gulf was unchanged at $2.125 a gallon and on the West Coast the biofuel added 0.5 cents, to $2.16, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Ethanol in New York jumped 1 cent, or 0.5 percent, to $2.09 a gallon and in Chicago the additive increased 0.5 cent to $2.05.

 

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