Illinois researchers find 2013/14 corn bid prices support E85 becoming price-competitive with gasoline

June 10, 2013 |

In Illinois, researchers at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, writing in FarmDoc Daily, found that a corn price of $5.24 per bushel was required for E85 ethanol fuel to be competitive with gasoline on a cost-per-mile basis, using the current $3.88 gasoline retail price. The research team found that with every 10 cent increase in the cost of gasoline, the price of corn could rise by 26.5 cents and still have E85 ethanol remain competitive with gasoline.

“Bids for corn delivered during the upcoming 2013 harvest, near $5.25, are right at that break-even corn price…expanding E85 consumption could help expand the ethanol blend wall and add to the demand for corn to be processed into ethanol during the 2013-14 corn marketing year…however if pump prices drop to $3.50 per gallon then corn prices would have to drop to $4.24 in order to maintain break-even E85 prices.”

More on the story.

Category: Fuels

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