US BioEnergy Corporation reports higher third-quarter earnings on rising output and lower corn costs.

According to the company, net income in the third quarter was $11.1 million, or 15 cents per share, compared with $8.3 million, or 12 cents per share, in the second quarter.

The company went public last December.

Gordon Ommen, US BioEnergy’s CEO says, “It was the first full quarter of production at our Ord, Nebraska plant and we now have four plants in operation and four additional plants under construction. Additionally, we successfully closed the acquisition of US Bio Marion, LLC (formerly Millennium Ethanol, LLC) during the third quarter, which positions us to bring our total production capacity to 750 million gallons per year (mgy) by the end of 2008.”

The company is in the process of building a transportation system that will allow it to move ethanol more efficiently from its facilities.

“This positions US BioEnergy to become one of the largest volume shippers of ethanol in the U.S. by the end of 2008, adding transportation efficiency to our growing list of competitive advantages,” Ommen said.