The Top 10 Biofuels Stories of the Year: #6, Commodity prices

Palm, corn, wheat, ethanol, oil, and soybeans went on their biggest Coney Island rollercoaster ride ever this year, with corn rising as high last summer as $7.85 in the futures markets before falling to $3.50 late in the year. Oil famously climbed into the $130s before falling to $38 by year end.

Palm went as high as $1180 per tonne before dropping below $300 in the fall. Wheat and soybeans went through similar ups and downs, which wreaked havoc on planting plans, farmer’s cost of inputs, the price of packaged goods, and ethanol and biodiesel profitability. At one point, Malaysia, the home of palm oil, had just two biodiesel plants operating in the country.

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