Chicago Argo ethanol rises on the back of soaring corn futures

In Illinois, Platts reports Chicago Argo ethanol prices soared to $1.6290/gal, nearly 10 cents higher on the day and the highest seen in seven weeks. Rising corn futures supported the price increase for ethanol as the March, May and July CBOT corn futures contracts all hit the 25 cent per day price limit within an hour of the WASDE report release that showed tighter corn yield and ending stocks than expected. With CBOT March corn futures settling at the highest level seen since July 23, 2013 at $5.1725/bushel, ethanol traders sat mostly on the sidelines waiting to see what happened.