The estimated production margin for a typical US Midwest dry-mill ethanol plant for the week ending Friday fell 14.08 cents, or 12.69%, to $0.9691/gallon, a review of US Department of Agriculture and Platts data showed.
As ethanol prices turned sharply bearish around swelling supplies in the US Midwest for much of the week, the weekly margin reversed course after a three-session rise.
US ethanol stocks for the week that ended May 30 soared 761,000 barrels to a 14-month high of 18.25 million barrels, Energy Information Administration data showed Wednesday.
The estimated ethanol price used in calculating the margin was the weekly average of the Platts Chicago Argo ethanol assessment, which fell 15.1 cents, or 6.69%, to $2.26/gal.
The weekly average estimated dried distillers grain byproduct price declined $9.06/st to $193.38/st, a 10-week slide to the lowest level in nearly four months.
The weekly average estimated delivered feedstock corn cost shed 9.47 cents, or 2.08%, to a three-month low of $4.4582/bushel.
The estimated denaturant cost fell 4.02 cents to $2.1298/gal, while the estimated monthly natural gas cost was 13 cents lower at $4.70/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 June 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.
