Iowa ethanol production recovering from floods

20 June 2008 23:20  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--An estimated 5.5m-7.5m gal/week of ethanol production in Iowa remained offline due to flooding, but most of the production was expected to back online within a week, an industry group said on Friday.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) said flooding, disruption of water service and the lack of rail service to ship out product continued to hamper production at at least three plants.

“With the exception of three plants, it is tempting to say that it is ‘business as usual’ for ethanol and biodiesel production in Iowa,” said IRFA executive director Monte Shaw. “For our customers that is essentially true. But only as a result of great effort on the part of Iowa’s renewable fuels producers and their marketers.”

The IRFA said it was unaware of any biodiesel production being disrupted due to flooding.

“Given the inherent flexibility of biofuels distribution [rail, truck, barge], no plants have reported a complete inability to ship fuel to destination markets,” the association said.  “While some railroad operations have been greatly impacted by the flooding [two bridges washed out on short-lines], the main UP [Union Pacific] line has been reopened.  Delays are still widespread but are reducing in severity and frequency.”

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By: Brian Ford
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