Ethanol prices are up.
This story in the Wichita Eagle reports that ethanol prices have gone up 35 cents a gallon since mid-November.
“It’s a little bit of a surprise to see how much the market has rebounded,” said Dave VanderGriend, president of ICM at Colwich, one of the nation’s largest designers and builders of ethanol plants.
“There’s still an oversupply to work through, but certainly this price rebound is helping stabilize the industry.”
VanderGriend pointed to a marked slowdown in the pace of plant construction and expansion as a factor in helping the market recover.
“New startups are about three to four months behind schedule,” he said. “That’s partly a result of a slowdown in financing and partly a backlog in being able to get parts for new plants.”