Ethanol Blog

Monday's much anticipated release of the final RFS levels by the EPA had limited immediate impact to the ethanol market as markets posted only moderate price moves both Monday and Tuesday.

But the combination of moves seen through the week, as traders focused on the underlying focus of the longer-term impact of the shift, seemed to have a more bullish underlying tone to the complex. This pushed front-month January ethanol futures 3.2 cents per gallon higher, closing above $1.50 per gallon once again at $1.509 a gallon.

Corn prices also surged higher through the last half of the week, posting a combined weekly increase of 17 cents, with December futures closing at $3.76 per bushel. It is uncertain just how much additional buyer support will remain developing under the corn or ethanol futures market over the next two weeks, although that's typically when there's a lack of trade activity due to holiday schedules affecting market interests. Traders back out of the market until after Jan. 1.

This could allow markets to hover in the current trading range until early January, where market seasonality would then likely be the next big focus of market activity.

Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com

(ES)

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