The estimated production margin for a typical US Midwest dry-mill ethanol plant for the week ended Friday lowered by 15.2 cents, or 14.01%, to an eight-week low of 93.34 cents/gal, a review of US Department of Agriculture and Platts data showed Monday.
As weekly stocks data and added imports continued to have a bearish effect on ethanol prices, the margin retreated for a fifth 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 10.31 cents, or 4.51%, to a nine-week low of $2.2839/gal.
US ethanol stocks for the week ended April 25 moved up 694,000 barrels to a nine-month high of 17.212 million barrels, Energy Information Administration data showed April 31.
The weekly average estimated dried distillers grain byproduct price declined $2.73/st to $227.82/st, hitting a five-week decline for the first time since April 2013.
The weekly average estimated delivered feedstock corn cost rose 15.67 cents, or 3.3%, to $4.9102/bushel.
The estimated denaturant cost dropped 5.87 cents to $2.2193/gal, while the estimated monthly natural gas cost fell 50 cents to $4.83/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 May 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.
