The estimated production margin for a typical US Midwest dry-mill ethanol plant for the week ended Friday lowered 39.49 cents, or 19.5%, to a three-week low of $1.6313/gal, a review of US Department of Agriculture and Platts data showed.
As weekly stocks data and talks of heavy US-bound imports had a starkly bearish effect on ethanol prices and corn prices firmed, the margin retreated for a second straight week from an eight-year high hit in the last week of March.
The estimated ethanol price used in calculating the margin was the weekly average of the Platts Chicago Argo ethanol assessment, which tumbled 40.02 cents, or 13.83%, to a four-week low of $2.8932/gal.
US ethanol stocks for the week ended April 4 moved up 532,000 barrels to a five-week high of 16.407 million barrels, Energy Information Administration data showed Wednesday.
The weekly average estimated dried distillers grain byproduct rose $5.55/st to $247.52/st, bouncing back from last week, when it lowered for the first time in nearly three months.
The weekly average estimated delivered feedstock corn cost ticked up 3.41 cents, or 0.72%, to $4.7976/bushel, rising for a fourth straight week. The estimated denaturant cost rose 2.2 cents to $2.2872/gal, while the estimated monthly natural gas cost was stable at $5.33/MMBtu.
The denaturant cost was based on the weekly average of the Platts natural gasoline assessment at the Conway, Kansas, hub, while the gas cost was based on the April Platts Chicago ANR 7 pipeline monthly index.
The estimated production margin for a typical dry-mill ethanol plant was calculated by weighing data from Platts and government agencies, including average delivered corn cost, dried distiller grain prices, natural gas prices, certain blending costs and ethanol prices.
Fixed-cost calculations were based on a 50 million gal/year-capacity Midwestern plant with 32 employees working at an average salary of $47,300/year.
