Valero idles two US ethanol plants on low margins
By STEVE GELSI
A combination of rising corn prices in the face of a Midwest drought and lower demand for gasoline has caused Valero Energy to shut down two of its 10 ethanol plants, company spokesman Bill Day said Thursday.
Valero temporarily suspended production last week at its Albion, Neb., ethanol plant, while its Linden, Ind., facility shut down production on Tuesday.
Each plant has the capacity to produce 120 million gal/year of ethanol.
A total of 120 employees work at the two plants. All of them will remain on the payroll and at their jobs during the shutdown, the company said.
"We expect market conditions to improve to the point that we can restart production at the plants before the fall harvest," the company said.
Dow Jones Newswires
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