High Corn Prices Cast Shadow Over Ethanol Plants

Audio for this story will be available at approx. 7:00 p.m. ET AltraBiofuel CEO Ken DeCubellis says the company must watch its costs very carefully. "We are one bad day of ethanol pricing from having to decide to shut the plant down," he says of the company's Indiana facility. Profit margins for ethanol producers over the past year have been slim, and sometimes the companies have gone into the red. The spike in corn prices in June reflects the flooding that occurred in the Midwest. Courtesy of Purdue University , July 15, 2008 · A rush to cash in on ethanol has slowed as soaring corn prices squeeze profit margins for producers of the alternative fuel. At recent high of $7 per bushel, the corn used to make ethanol has tripled in price since many plants were built two years ago and some facilities have been shut down or put on... [read full story]