Ethanol Blog

A continued rise in corn prices, and falling ethanol production in recent weeks, have resulted in another week of price increases for dried distillers grains and a slightly tighter supply in some areas.

The DTN weekly spot price average rose slightly this week, only $1 per ton higher than last week, from $269 per ton to $270 per ton. Still, this marks the fourth week in a row that DDG prices rose. The average increased from $255 the first week of January to this week's $270 per ton. The last time the DTN weekly spot price average was at this level was mid-October.

Of the 29 Midwestern locations DTN collects prices from, 15 locations reported their prices had increased from last week between $2 and $10 per ton, though most increases were between $2 and $5. Prices at 13 locations remained the same as last week, while only one location had a small price decrease.

Merchandisers told DTN that this week's continued increase in prices was due largely to DDG prices chasing corn prices, as DDG tends to mirror movement on the corn board. Also, decreased ethanol production in the last two weeks led to slightly tighter supplies in certain areas, which factored into rising prices.

The value of DDG relative to corn fell almost 2% this week, from 104% last week to 102.09%. The value of DDG relative to soybean meal this week was 63.32%, down only slightly.

The cost per unit of protein for DDG was $10.80 this week, compared to the cost per unit of protein for soybeans at $8.98.

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

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