European ethanol demand may pick up as premium falls further

In the Netherlands, the outlook for ethanol blending in Europe may at last be improving as prices fall in line with gasoline futures. As such, the premium slipped to $149.09/cu m on Wednesday, down nearly $5 per cu m from the day before. Ethanol plants are currently closed for maintenance and arbitrage windows are closed to imports at the moment, so ethanol prices have little to do but fall further. Demand could be found just below the current levels, but there would be more if prices fell another $20 per cu m or so.