Ethanol Blog

Ample product and slow demand caused prices of dried distillers grains to continue their five-week downward trend once again.

The DTN weekly DDG spot price average fell another $4 this week, from $239 per ton last week to $235. The last time the average was this low was the last week in June 2012.

This is the fifth consecutive week that the average has fallen for a total of a $30-per-ton decrease since mid-March. Spot prices have fallen $26 per ton in the past four weeks alone.

Of the 29 Midwestern locations DTN collects prices from, 22 locations said their DDG spot prices had decreased between $4 to $10 per ton in the past week. Prices at four locations remained the same as last week, while three locations reported price increases of $5 per ton.

Merchandisers told DTN that ample supplies of DDG and a slight slow-down in demand are contributing to the continued fall in prices. Some end users may be hesitating in securing product, while waiting to see if prices fall further.

While corn has been trading up and down this week, DDG prices have not mirrored that movement, but instead continuing its downward trend.

The value of DDG relative to corn remained virtually unchanged, falling only slightly from 102.76% last week to 102.09% this week. The value of DDG relative to soybean meal fell from 60.51% last week to 57.18% this week.

The cost per unit of protein for DDG this week was $9.40, compared to the cost per unit of protein for soybean meal was at $8.65.

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