Ethanol Blog

Prices of dried distillers grains fell again this week for the third week in a row, falling $9 per ton in that time period.

Marking the lowest price level since mid-July, the DTN weekly DDG spot price average fell another $3 per ton this week. Prices fell from $273 per ton the second week of October, to $264 this week.

Of the 30 Midwestern locations DTN collects prices from, 12 locations reported that their prices increased this week, mostly between $5 and $10 per ton. Prices at 14 locations remained the same, while only two locations had price increases since last week. Two locations said they had no offers.

Merchandisers told DTN that the downward trend is due largely to lowered export demand and ample supplies of DDG on the market, forcing sellers to fight for sales. Reduced cattle numbers are factoring in the equation as well, especially in western markets.

Most merchandisers said that Hurricane Sandy has not affected the DDG market much, since most exports are transported downriver or via railcars to the Gulf or for shipment overseas.

The value of DDG relative to corn finally lowered this week to 98.43% from 100.75% last week. The value of DDG relative to soybean meal also fell slightly, from 55.46% last week to 54.51% this week.

The cost per unit of protein for DDG was $10.56, compared to the cost per unit of protein for soybeans at $10.20.

Cheryl Anderson can be reached at Cheryl.anderson@telventdtn.com.

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