"“We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.” "


Chinese premier Wen Jiabao 12th March 2009


""We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we'd like to do our best to preserve that system."


Timothy Geithner US Secretary of the Treasury, previously President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.1/3/2009

Friday, June 13, 2008

UPDATE : US Ethanol producers and flooding in Iowa and US$8 a bushel corn


Earth2tech provides a handy chart of the recent performance of ethanol refiners shares , with commentary on the way rains and subsequent floods have hit the mid west... and Gormless Gordon says the world needs to build 1,000 nuclear power stations - The Prime Minister (whose reach doesn't extend to controlling his back benchers) called for a "new global approach on oil and energy" - about 30 reactors open every year for the next 30 to 40 years ..er.. apparently - currently 439 operating . (Scotsman)

Mr Driscoll (?) of Citigroup and other analysts have woken to the broken dreams of ethanol refiners.

He says , without naming them, that 5 ethanol refiners have been shutdown as costs to run the plants are far outweighing profits. He predicts BioFuel will report a 2008 loss of 18 cents a share, compared with an earlier breakeven estimate.

The Denver-based Biofuel which went public last summer, plans to start running its first 2 ethanol plants in Nebraska and Minnesota by the end of this month, he said. The corn will be supplied by agriculture giant Cargill Inc.

BB&T analyst Heather Jones, claims that Vera Sun has no corn hedges and much of its corn is bought from Iowa farmers. Iowa has shouldered the brunt of the flooding. ( see pic.)
The Chicago Board of Trade July Corn contract closed at US$7.09 last night.

Wallace Tyner professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University is predicting US$8 a bushel for corn but Douglas Tiffany, a research fellow at the University of Minnesota ( top researcher on biomass ethanol generation) , estimates that with oil prices above $130 a gallon, at least some ethanol producers could afford to pay as much as $9.50 a bushel for corn.

Click to enlarge picture/graph

UPDATE 10.00pm BST Iowa hospital, residents evacuate as floodwaters rise AP
UPDATE Saturday

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(C) Very Seriously Disorganised Criminals 2002/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 - copy anything you wish