Biodiesel employees laid off at suspended Iowa plant

The owner of a 30 million gallon a year biodiesel plant in Iowa, US has temporarily suspended production.

Soy Energy has said ‘recent volatile market conditions and continued production challenges’ have taken their toll hence the suspension. Some employees have been laid off since the announcement.

‘In order to ensure the long-term health of the business for both our customers and our employees, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily shut down our facility until market conditions improve,’ Soy Energy CEO Jeff Oestmann was quoted as saying.

‘Unfortunately, this temporary shutdown has included the layoff of a number of our employees. We value every one of our employees and deeply regret the impact this will have on them.’

Thirteen biodiesel plants in Iowa have the capacity to produce 320 million gallons a year, with a further 41 ethanol refineries which make almost 4 billion gallons per annum.