Pacific Ethanol stock takes a dive after Brazilian export credit announced

September 12, 2014 |

In the US, ethanol producers’ stocks took an enormous hit yesterday after Brazil announced it would offer an export tax credit on ethanol. Included in the companies whose prices dipped were Pacific Ethanol and Green Plains, sinking 9% and 4%, respectively.

Meantime, potential regulatory changes in the U.S. have already put ethanol makers under pressure. The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed cutting the amount of biofuels that refiners will be required to blend into gasoline. And in California, regulators have given Brazilian sugar ethanol a better greenhouse gas rating than corn-based ethanol produced in the U.S., making Brazilian imports more desirable.

The Digest reported yesterday on Brazil’s credit, which will expand a tax credit to sugar and ethanol producers to spur demand for biofuel for the second time this month. Under the program, known as Reintegra, producers will receive a tax credit worth 0.3 percent of their exports. The policy change was introduced by President Dilma Rousseff, who faces an increasingly tough election in early October.

 

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Category: Fuels

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