CropEnergies with weaker start to the year and new perspectives

In Illinois, CropEnergies AG, Mannheim, started the 2018/19 financial year with a below-average 1st quarter compared to previous years. The operating result decreased to EUR 5 (previous year: 24) million. The main reason for the reduction is the significantly lower ethanol price, which was temporarily below the gasoline price. As a result, production was reduced by 8 percent to 257,000 (previous year: 280,000) cubic meters of ethanol. Net financial assets improved further to EUR 41 (28 February 2018: 37) million.

A gradual improvement in ethanol prices and results is expected over the course of the year. In Brussels on 14 June 2018, the negotiators of the European Parliament, Council and Commission agreed to increase the minimum share of renewable energies in transport from 10 percent in 2020 to 14 percent in 2030. Despite considerable doubts about the environmental and climate benefits of the envisaged fictitious multiple counting, e.g. electricity used in electric vehicles, CropEnergies sees significant progress in the compromise.