L-R: Brian Jennings, Troy Knecht, Jonathon Lehman, Ron Lamberty
ACE CEO Brian Jennings, board president Troy Knecht with Redfield Energy, Cultivating Conservation Founding Member Jonathon Lehman,
and ACE Chief Marketing Officer Ron Lamberty took the stage to discuss year-round E15, ethanol blending economics and price savings, the Renewable Fuel Standard, the latest on 45Z and ACE’s efforts to help producers maximize its value, export opportunities, and more.
The stalling of E15 in the Senate was the main topic of discussion. In an interview, Knecht said it’s frustrating. “I’ve been on this board for 12 or 13 years we’ve been talking about it the whole time and we were talking about it before then even so it’s time, but we have got to figure out this farm bill and where this fits and and what do the small refiners need out of it.”
Knecht says there are real bright spots for the ethanol industry right now. “Well, 45Z, of course, that’s number one, and plants are already capturing that. That’s going to be huge for shareholders. And then exports have been strong… I think Guatemala and other places that have new mandates, and we can provide them with ethanol,” said Knecht.
Lamberty said ethanol exports continue to increase. “U.S. ethanol has been attractively priced versus Brazilian ethanol for quite a while. Last year, we were just under 2.2 billion gallons exported, which was a record,” said Lamberty. “Right now, 10 months of the marketing year gone, I think we were at 1.97 something, which is about 200 million gallons a month. So that puts us at 2.4 by the end of the (marketing) year.”
The ACE conference also featured a panel today on new uses, including maritime and SAF, and will spotlight retailers on Friday and hear from Ryan LeGrand, President & CEO of the U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council, about the export picture.
Listen to interviews with Knecht and Lamberty below.
Troy Knecht, Redfield Energy 7:14 Ron Lamberty, ACE 10:33