US weekly ethanol margins fall deeper into the red

Reuters UK
Fri Jan 2, 2009 9:50pm GMT

NEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Average U.S. ethanol distillers lost even more money this week on higher corn prices and weak demand for motor fuel, analysts said.

"Right now ethanol is just not a profitable business," said Pavel Mulchanov, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates in Houston.

Distillers were losing about 10 to 15 cents per gallon for the week ending Thursday, down about five cents.

Mulchanov said the profit margins were not sustainable because as distillers stop making the fuel, the price will go up. "There is a need for ethanol, refiners need it for blending reformulated gasoline," he said.

Read the full story