Ethanol crush margins highest in eight months

In Illinois, ethanol producers are benefiting from the highest crush margins seen in eight months thanks to falling corn prices ahead of the next crop and steady ethanol demand from summer driving season. Platts estimates that the price differential converts into a crushing margin of 23.21 cents/gal compared to 23.53 cents/gal last seen last October. As a result, ethanol plants are likely to keep production steady or go higher following recent record production levels but weaker margins.