AlwaysFree: US Ethanol Crush Margin Crumbles To Single Digits On Falling Prices

US ethanol crush margin has crumbled by 27.34 cents since July 13 to 7.07 cents/gallon on July 20. The steep decline is attributed to falling prices of Chicago Argo ethanol. Chicago Argo ethanol prices hit a seven-month high on July 8 due to thin inventories. However, it slumped to $1.2430/gallon on July 20 as sellers diverted ethanol from nearby rail markets to Argo, causing stocks to swell and prices to go down. Meanwhile, front-month CBOT corn futures decreased by a smaller margin of 5.75 cents from July 13. US ethanol output averaged 931,000 bpd in the week ended July 10, increasing by 17,000 bpd, data from the US EIA showed July 15. Ethanol production is expected to have increased to 61,000 bpd in the following week.