Ethanol Blog

The long upward trend in DDG prices slowed slightly this week, as prices stabilized a bit during a somewhat quiet week.

The DTN weekly DDG spot price average rose $2 per ton in the past week, from $234 last week to $236 per ton this week. This marks a 10-week upward trend, as the average rose $51 per ton since the second week of January and is the highest level the average has reached since mid-June 2013.

Of the 30 Midwestern locations DTN collects spot prices from, three locations reported their prices had increased between $5 and $15 per ton in the past week, while only two reported price decreases of $5 and $10 per ton. Prices at 23 locations remained unchanged since last week. One location reported no offers, and another location said it had no offers last week, so no change was available.

Although railcar availability remains a mess with no relief in sight until at least early summer, merchandisers told DTN that plants are starting to see a glimpse of relief from the tight supplies. That, along with a quiet week from the export side, left DDG prices somewhat stable this week.

The value of DDG relative to corn rose about 3% this week, from 135% last week to 138% this week. The value of DDG relative of soybean meal rose only slightly, from 52% last week to about 51% this week.

The cost per unit of protein for DDG was $9.44 this week, compared to the cost per unit of protein for soybean meal at $9.82.

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

(ES)

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