New York | Reuters — U.S. ethanol producers are feeling the pain as margins on the corn-based fuel slumped this week to an eight-year low for this time of year, weighed by concerns over lower fuel demand from the coronavirus and the recent collapse in oil prices. The coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than
U.S. ethanol industry ‘bleeding’ on oil collapse, coronavirus
Ethanol makers see demand surge on hand sanitizer stockpiling
Reuters — Some ethanol producers worldwide said demand is up for their products due to customers stockpiling hand sanitizer — which can be made using the biofuel — as the coronavirus outbreak worsens. The COVID-19 coronavirus has infected more than 110,000 people in 105 countries and territories and 3,800 have died, according to a Reuters
Iowa’s anger over ethanol gives Democrats opening
Farmers were strong Trump supporters but now they say they’re being ignored
Reuters – In a speech last month to farmers in Texas, President Donald Trump won applause as he talked up recent U.S. trade agreements. When he tried to boast of his administration’s ethanol policy, however, he was met with silence. Iowa swung sharply to Trump’s Republicans in the 2016 presidential election, but Democrats hope anger
How ethanol plant shutdowns deepen pain for U.S. corn farmers
U.S. ethanol mandate exemptions are starting to add up, resulting in plant closures
Reuters – When the U.S. ethanol industry was booming, Indiana farmer Paul Hodgen made good money selling about a quarter of his crop to a local facility that produced the corn-based fuel. Now that plant has stopped churning out ethanol and has instead converted to a grain elevator for storage. Hodgen still sells his corn
White House to stick with 2020 biofuel plan, despite farmer objections
New York | Reuters — The Trump administration plans to stick with its proposed 2020 biofuel blending requirements, the White House said on Wednesday, despite anger among farmers that the plan does too little for corn growers. The decision could undermine President Donald Trump’s support among farmers, an important constituency in the November 2020 election.
U.S. biodiesel industry struggles without subsidy
New York | Reuters — When John Whittington shut his Indiana biodiesel plant this week, he knew the move would leave all 14 of his workers there looking for jobs heading into the U.S. holiday season. But he felt he had no choice. A $1-per-gallon subsidy that had been propping up the industry since 2005
Trump administration proposes plan to raise biofuels use, EPA says
New York | Reuters — The Trump administration, in an effort to mend fences with the powerful U.S. corn lobby, proposed a new formula on Tuesday to boost biofuels demand — but the proposal instead only provoked more consternation from the industry. Corn and soybean farmers have been angered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
U.S. diesel prices hit three-year low as harvest delays feared
New York | Reuters — Diesel prices in the U.S. Midwest have sunk to a three-year seasonal low as farmers in the region face adverse weather conditions, further complicating an already delayed harvest season, traders and farmers said. Diesel demand typically rises during harvest season because farming equipment and trucks transporting product use the fuel.
Trump’s EPA promises biofuel boost, angers Big Oil
Washington/New York | Reuters — The Trump administration on Friday unveiled a plan to boost U.S. biofuels consumption starting next year to help struggling farmers, a move that cheered the agriculture industry but triggered a backlash from Big Oil. The plan would require an unspecified increase in the amount of ethanol that oil refiners must
Trump backs plan boosting biofuel quotas 10 per cent in 2020
New York | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump has tentatively approved a plan to increase the amount of biofuels that oil refiners are required to blend each year to compensate for exemptions handed out to small refiners by the Environmental Protection Agency, two sources familiar with the matter said. The plan is intended to
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