US Federal Trade Commission says ethanol industry too decentralized to respond effectively to market signals

In Washington, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued its “2008 Report on Ethanol Market Concentration,” finding that the ethanol industry lacks sufficient consolidation for any single market player to set price or supply levels and respond effectively to market signals. The 2008 report detailed 160 ethanol producing firms in the US, up 57 since the previous year, while the largest single producer controlled 11 percent of industry capacity, dropping to 26 percent by 2005.

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