What is the price range and availability of ethanol in the US Florida to be exact? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Addison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 12:28 PM Subject: [Biofuel] US Ethanol Price Shows 34% Decline In Last Five Months As Supplies Surge
> US Ethanol Price Shows 34% Decline In Last Five Months As Supplies Surge > > BLOOMBERG NEWS: The price of ethanol, a grain-based fuel that began > trading on the Chicago Board of Trade Wednesday, is falling in the > U.S., as supplies rise faster than demand created by government > mandates, producers said. > > Ethanol production will rise 22% this year, after doubling in the > previous five years, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, a > trade group in Washington. Expansions this year will add 750 million > gallons to U.S. production capacity of 3.644 million at the end of > 2004, the association said. > > The price of ethanol, which normally trades at a premium to wholesale > gasoline, has plunged 34 percent on average in the U.S. since > November 1, to $1.3169 a gallon, even as gasoline surged 20% over the > same period and reached a record high of $1.603 this week in New > York, data compiled by Bloomberg shows. The Chicago contract traded > at $1.21 a gallon on Wednesday. > > "There's a lot of competitive production, and we've got an adequate > supply to meet what the oil companies need," said G. Allen Andreas, > chief executive of Archer Daniels Midland Co., the largest U.S. > ethanol producer. "Competitive elements in the market have caused > there to be a reduction in price," Andreas said in a March 17 > interview in Washington. > > Ethanol is a form of alcohol that is added to gasoline to increase > the oxygen content so the fuel burns more completely, reducing > tailpipe emissions. The fuel, made from corn in the U.S. and from > sugar in Brazil, also is used to stretch gasoline supplies when > crude-oil prices rise. > > Farmers in the U.S., the world's largest producer of corn, have > invested in more ethanol plants to increase demand for their crops as > grain prices plunged, and the government stepped up production > subsidies and mandates for ethanol use in fuel. Ethanol sales in the > U.S. last year reached $5.5 billion. > > Oil refiners can receive a government subsidy of as much as 51 cents > a gallon for ethanol, with total subsidies of about $1.85 billion > last year, the Renewable Fuels Association estimates. Congress is > considering a federal mandate for ethanol use, which would replace a > requirement that gasoline contain specified levels of oxygen-boosting > additives. > > Ethanol demand rose to a record 3.57 billion gallons in the U.S. last > year, as California, New York and Connecticut joined 12 other states > in banning the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, to meet > mandated levels of oxygenates in fuel. > > The Board of Trade, the second-biggest U.S. futures market, moved up > the introduction of its ethanol contract to a week before a similar > contract begins trading at the rival Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the > biggest U.S. futures exchange. The new contract "will add another > device for us from a financial perspective for our production and our > manufacturing plants," Andreas said. [ March 25, 2005 ] > > > COMMENTARY: > Predicting An Ethanol "Tsunami" > > NICHOLAS E. HOLLIS, AGRIBUSINESS COUNCIL: Last December elders on > tiny Indian Ocean islands watched the strange phenomenon - a hissing > tide receding with a strange, deep sucking sound as the seas pulled > back --- minutes before the first terrifying monster waves churned > onshore. > > For those who listened to their elders --- who remembered the ancient > stories and legends of a hungry ocean bent on taking their seaside > villages --- for those who rushed to higher ground, following the > animals --- fate would be kinder compared to the hapless tourists or > children who stood on the beach to marvel at the strange sight. > > Today, in America's heartland, another kind of "Tsunami" is surely > building in the cornfields, and its undetected power is threatening > to drown the American agro-food system in an artificial sea of > ethanol. That hissing sound at the pump --- with soaring prices --- > is also linked to ethanol --- but it's a dirty little secret (like > lower mileage) that is routinely suppressed at Department of Energy. > > As farmer-investors rush to organize themselves into secretive > "limited liability companies" --- quite different from normal, > non-profit (and transparent) farmer coops-- hucksters proclaim a new > "Gold (Ethanol) Rush" is underway. The aim is to increase the > distilling capacity for huge amounts of the nation's corn for > conversion into ethanol. > > The heavily subsidized industry is counting on a massive market > expansion --- via legislation --- which will virtually force > motorists in faraway California and New England to use ethanol > blended gasoline. But as spring planting decisions near, sager > farmers are worried about the potential for an "ethanol glut" --- and > the implications of a near doubling of required ethanol production to > six billion gallons by 2012 (up from 3.4 billion last year). > > Angry citizen activists are also organizing to fight the spread of > ethanol processing plants in small towns around the country. > > After more than a quarter century of ethanol, with corn prices still > at rock bottom-- exports have collapsed and the U.S. is more > dependent on overseas energy sources. Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)- a > sleepy midwest grain outfit- but holding a hammerlock control on the > infant ethanol industry it created, protected,and fine tuned by > pulling political strings --- has grown huge on billions of federal > dollars --- and now threatens more diversified companies like Cargill > and ConAgra. Subsidies for ADM have been like steroids in athletics > --- only no one has been paying much attention. > > Farmers are used to uncertainty in a risky business which still > revolves around the weather--But in politics, as the saying goes "You > don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" .For > ethanol advocates, the wind has been filling their sails and wallets, > for as many years as ADM contributions have surged into Washington > and state capitols around the country. It has been a mighty wind > indeed- fanned by such ADM lap dogs as Bob Dole, Tom Daschle, Newt > Gingrich, Dan Glickman and many, many other beneficiaries of ADM's > largess. > > Still the farmers have not faced this level of uncertainty in recent > memory --- laced with proposed subsidy caps, unsecured mandates, > soaring input costs (fertilizer has rocked 70% in the past two > years), conflicting state and federal laws, growing overseas > competition and the uncertain future of ethanol itself --- and its > new subsidy cousin --- biodiesel from soybeans (also largely > controlled by ADM). > > Distortions from these layered subsidy regimes have also wreaked > havoc on the animal feed industry (ethanol by-product corn gluten > competes with soy meal as a leading animal feed ingredient-displacing > a more natural use of the soybean). > > Is there a glut of ethanol? There is no way of knowing since the > production figures and usage are quoted by ADM mouthpiece groups --- > and not subject to any easy verification. Among economists --- the > concept of "Ethanol Economics" is an oxymoron --- a virtual "Black > Hole" that few ever dive into. > > This is the nature of "information" from a concentrated, heavily > politicized, and subsidy distorted "industry". Remember: when corn > prices rise to a reasonable level (measured against input costs, > labor, etc) --- say about $3.50-4 per bushel or above --- ethanol > becomes un-economic to produce. > > With this rigged market --- all ADM needs to do is sit back and wait. > Ethanol is in "transition" moving from a covert --- 'under the radar' > industry --- content to surreptitiously siphon subsidies off the > Highway Trust Fund (HTF) into a mainline government mandated program > with direct subsidy from the U.S. Treasury --- and foisted on an > unsuspecting public as "Freedom Fuel." > > Every gallon of blended ethanol will now add to the federal deficit. > The ethanol juggernaut is maneuvering for advantage with the > Administration --- trying to force its demands for lower cost > feedstocks (i.e. sugar)- while encouraging little investors to plunge > into the "sure thing" market. The scheme appears to depend on > continued hoodwinking of the public. But corn-based ethanol may not > be a sure thing after all. > > For example, what happens if corn suddenly finds itself in the > backseat to a new 'sweetheart' --- preferred ethanol feedstock --- > sugar? There are ominous signs that ADM is trying to clear the path > for more imports of sugar/molasses for processing --- and such a > move, while creating more ethanol for anticipated markets--could > leave the American corn and sugarcane/beet farmers stranded on the > beach --- watching helplessly as the towering Ethanol Tsunami bears > down on them --- and the rest of the clueless American consumers. > > Time to head from the hills? Don't look back now --- something > could be gaining on us! [ March 23, 2005 ] > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): > http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
