The European T2 duty-paid ethanol price has jumped this week on unconfirmed market talk Belgian producer Alcodis may be carrying out maintenance at its Rotterdam plant, sources said.
The company has been seen bidding for product in the spot market since the start of the week, prompting speculation it might be suffering an interruption to production caused by maintenance.
Alcodis sources could not be reached for immediate comment.
"I heard rumors [about maintenance] from the ethanol and the feed side," said a source. Another source said the plant had stopped for a couple of weeks, while a third source said the company might be "tuning the plant".
The FOB Rotterdam ethanol price has risen Eur8.50/cu m since Friday to Eur470/cu m, with steep rises of up to Eur10/cu m for paper values along the curve mainly in Q4.
The Alcodis Rotterdam plant has an annual production capacity of 480,000 cu m of ethanol for fuel use and 360,000 mt of DDGS.
