Spot Ethanol Rallies on Week on Plant Production Outages

    

   WASHINGTON, D.C. (DTN) -- Spot ethanol prices at the Kinder Morgan operated 
Argo terminal and in New York Harbor posted various results in choppy trading 
Friday afternoon following days of massive flooding in the Midwest, while 
Chicago Board of Trade feedstock corn futures climbed to a six-week high on the 
spot continuous chart.

   Following several days of extensive flooding, roughly 13% of the nation's 
ethanol production capacity have been shut down and rail deliveries idled in 
some locations in Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota. According to Reuters, from 
100,000 to 140,000 bpd of corn-based fuel have been taken offline in recent 
days, while limited access to railways have forced some operating producers to 
turn to trucks for deliveries, increasing transportation costs. In the Arizona 
market, acute ethanol shortages are exacerbated by the closure of the state's 
only ethanol plant located south of Phoenix, which sent the regional spot price 
13.5cts higher in Friday trading.

   In other markets, sources pegged prompt delivered ethanol at Argo in Chicago 
at $1.4250 gallon, down 5.25cts from a session prior and up 4.5cts on a week 
ago. Ethanol shipped under Rule 11 rail terms was last indexed at $1.4150 
gallon, slipping 4.5cts from last session but alike amount higher on the week. 
At the New York Harbor, prompt ethanol was last discussed at $1.5750 a gallon, 
while advancing a penny on a session and 12.5cts on the week. Gulf Cost ethanol 
moved 7.5cts up to $1.5700 from a day prior, while a steep 15cts up on a week. 
West Coast product was last discussed at $1.7450, 1.5cts higher from session 
prior and surging 21.5cts on the week. 

   In futures markets, CBOT May corn futures moved 2cts higher on the session 
to $3.782 bushel. In line with higher feedstock corn costs, ethanol April 
futures moved 1.1cts up to $1.419 gallon, while the New York Mercantile 
Exchange RBOB April contract edged up 0.56cts to $1.9259 gallon at the market 
close. 

   In compliance credits trade, 2018 D6 renewable identification numbers were 
indexed at 9.5cts, up 2cts on the session and 0.5cts down on the week, while 
2019 D6 RINs were last discussed at 12cts, a penny higher from a session prior 
and 1.5cts lower from a week ago. 


Spot Ethanol Prices
Market                      Low           High          Last          vs. 03/21/19   03/15/19
New York Harbor             $1.5650       $1.5850       $1.5750       $0.0100        $0.1250
Chicago (Terminal)          $1.4150       $1.4350       $1.4250       -$0.0525       $0.0450
Chicago (Rule 11)           $1.4000       $1.4300       $1.4150       -$0.0450       $0.0450
Houston                     $1.5600       $1.5800       $1.5700       $0.0750        $0.1500
Northern Calif.             $1.7250       $1.7650       $1.7450       $0.0150        $0.2150
Southern Calif.             $1.7250       $1.7650       $1.7450       $0.0150        $0.2150
Phoenix                     $1.7500       $1.7900       $1.7700       $0.1350        $0.3300
Pacific Northwest           $1.7000       $1.7500       $1.7250       $0.1000        $0.2050
2018 D6 RINs                $0.0900       $0.1000       $0.0950       $0.0200        -$0.0050
2019 D6 RINs                $0.1100       $0.1300       $0.1200       $0.0100        -$0.0150

   Liubov Georges, 1.646.359.4088, liubov.georges@dtn.com, www.dtn.com. (c) 
2019 DTN. All rights reserved.