Flint Hills plans to permanently cease production at its Camilla, Georgia, ethanol plant, a company spokesman said June 12
"Past attempts to find an interested buyer were unsuccessful and current market conditions make a sale unlikely," said company spokesman Michael Wilhelmi in an email. "We will continue to operate the terminal as we have since the plant was idled in May. We're exploring other opportunities for the facility and terminal business.
"The plant has been idled since May and will not resume ethanol production," the statement, dated June 11, said.
Thin demand due to the coronavirus pandemic and oversupply in the ethanol market drove the decision, the statement added.
S&P Global Platts assessed the benchmark Argo ethanol market at an all-time low of 81.05 cents/gal on April 1. It has since recovered to the mid $1.20s/gal range, but producers have had to adjust to a lower demand environment.
Flint Hills acquired the 120 million gal/year plant in 2014.
The company's website no longer showed corn bids June 12, while the other plants on the company's website continued to reflect buying interest for the ethanol feedstock.
