Ethanol plants to be limited by corn supply, expert predicts

Only about 18 of the more than 30 ethanol plants proposed for Indiana are likely to be built, according to Jon Cavanaugh, a commodities marketer with Central States Enterprises in the northeast Indiana town of New Haven.

That’s because there isn’t enough corn in Indiana or anywhere else in the country to satiate the booming national demand from ethanol producers, Cavanaugh said in a speech this week at the Fort Wayne Farm Show.

Quoted in the Bluffton News-Banner, Cavanaugh said ethanol production will consume more than 3 billion bushels this year and could use 4 billion next year, but the nation is raising only 10 billion to 11 billion bushels. Livestock and other traditional buyers will remain strong competitors for the commodity.