CropEnergies to continue operations at UK plant despite cost pressures

CropEnergies has decided to continue operations at the Ensus production plant in Wilton, UK, from January onwards.
The Germany-based firm had communicated that the capacity utilisation of all its renewable ethanol production plants was continuously being assessed.
High prices for energy, power and raw materials continuously has put pressure on the cost side.
In addition, ethanol prices in Europe have decreased significantly since the end of the summer. The main reason for the latter is the significant volume of imports particularly from Brazil and the USA.
Future prices for ethanol going into the next 12 months have decreased accordingly. However, the UK Energy Bill Relief Scheme on gas and power, which has been implemented by the UK government for the time period from October 2022 until March 2023, will ease some of the cost pressure on the UK plant.
The decision to continue operations at Ensus will also help to support UK consumers of biogenic CO2 during challenging supply conditions.
CropEnergies has welcomed the support of the UK government, but stresses that an ongoing solution for energy-intensive companies needs to be found also post-next March. Ethanol producers particularly from Brazil and the USA are still benefitting from comparably much lower energy and raw material prices, therefore further pressure from imports on European ethanol prices cannot be ruled out.