Ethanol ‘One of the Most Hated Industries’: CEO
by Jane Wells (CNBC) …Proponents say refiners can use past spending splurges on ethanol as credits against this year’s purchasing requirements, and exports will also probably be cut. This should leave more corn for everyone else.
However, that may not happen. Becker thinks refiners will still keep buying a lot of ethanol as needed. Why? Many have come to depend on the corn-based fuel’s high octane level of 113 to raise overall gasoline octane to 87 and higher.
“What we’ve seen over the last 18 months is that the refining community has kind of scaled back to an 84 octane subgrade gasoline — which you can’t put in your car — because they saw the benefit and the opportunity that they can use ethanol as their blend stock,” Becker said. “If you want to replace this octane, you’re going to have to buy something much more expensive than ethanol today, and it’s not in big supply.” READ MORE
