Ethanol producers are reporting solid revenue after a rough few years caused by high corn prices. Increased demand for fuel and exports are also boosting the sector.
Drought in 2012 sent corn prices past $8 per bushel, crippling the industry. Green Plains Renewable Energy, the nation’s fourth-largest ethanol producer with 12 reported its best quarter at the end of 2013.
The industry was battered by the 2012 drought start an ongoing fight with the federal government, the oil industry and other interests over scaling back the US ethanol blending mandate.
The record 2013 corn harvest has sent prices down to near $4 per bushel. And demand for gasoline has returned.