Ethanol Blog

Prices of dried distillers grains rose only slightly last week amid a bit of pre-holiday buying countered by worries over the current heat wave.

The DTN weekly DDG spot price average remained relatively unchanged, rising only $1 per ton since last week to $226. The average this week broke a five-week downward trend, but still has hovered between $225 and $226 since the first week of August.

Of the 30 Midwestern locations DTN collects prices from, 13 locations reported their prices had remained unchanged since last week, while 12 reported price increases between $2 and $10 per ton. Only three locations reported price decreases from last week between $3 and $5 per ton. Prices at two locations were not available last week, so a change was not available.

Merchandisers told DTN that despite the lack of movement in prices, there was definite interest in buying DDG, just not in enough numbers to make a huge change in prices. Those locations reporting price increases attributed the rise to the end-of-the month crunch with buyers wanting feed before the Labor Day weekend.

California markets took a sharp upward turn as supplies were somewhat tight in those markets with summer plant maintenance and some tightness in securing railcars, as well as higher prices of competing ingredients.

Concerns over crops have grown with the past week's heat wave, as many worry that extended high temperatures could damage grain fill and push prices upward. Cooler temperatures and rains could relieve worry and cause prices to remain steady in coming weeks.

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

© Copyright 2013 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.