Valero making profits from VeraSun plants
All seven bioethanol plants US oil refiner Valero purchased on the bankruptcy of VeraSun are now running at capacity and making a profit.
Valero bought the plants in March after VeraSun Energy was bankrupted by contracts locking the producer into paying above market price for corn. Four of the plants remained operating throughout the bankruptcy. Two were restarted by Valero. The seventh, a 110-million-gallon-a-year plant in Welcome, Minnesota, had never been opened.
The seven plants have a combined capacity of about 780 million gallons a year, or about 7.5% of the total US capacity to make bioethanol.
For months, ethanol producers have been losing money or making only marginal profits as a result of high corn prices. In the past few weeks, however, corn prices have dropped and producers are now making $0.25-35 (€0.18-25) a gallon.
Valero bought the plants in March after VeraSun Energy was bankrupted by contracts locking the producer into paying above market price for corn. Four of the plants remained operating throughout the bankruptcy. Two were restarted by Valero. The seventh, a 110-million-gallon-a-year plant in Welcome, Minnesota, had never been opened.
The seven plants have a combined capacity of about 780 million gallons a year, or about 7.5% of the total US capacity to make bioethanol.
For months, ethanol producers have been losing money or making only marginal profits as a result of high corn prices. In the past few weeks, however, corn prices have dropped and producers are now making $0.25-35 (€0.18-25) a gallon.
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