Ethanol Plants Will Use Much More of the U.S. Corn Crop Next Year, Says Kiplinger Letter
Agronomy | July 17, 2006
The Kiplinger Agriculture Letter: Ethanol plants will use 23% of the U.S. corn crop next year, more than double their use in 2004.
With another 19% of the crop earmarked for export, that leaves only 58% of corn production available for consumption by people and livestock in the U.S. Food companies and livestock owners worry about the upward pressure on corn prices.
Demand for ethanol will help push corn prices over $2.50/bu. on average next year, up from around the $2 level in recent years.
U.S. ethanol plant capacity will jump nearly 70% by late 2007… to more than 7 billion gallons a year…up from 4.2 billion in Dec. 2005.
The West Coast is going full bore into ethanol production:
Fourteen large plants are planned in Calif. and Ore., and three are being built. So far, the West Coast has only a few small plants. Now three firms are building big facilities, one with 113 million gallons of capacity, to serve a region with a surging demand for biofuels.
Copyright © 2006 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.
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