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Article: Ethanol Drives Corn Prices to Highest Levels In A Decade
- Article from:
- Renewable Fuel News
- Article date:
- July 17, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Hart Energy Publishing, LP Jul 17, 2006. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The ravenous appetite of the booming ethanol industry has to spur a huge surge in the price of its primary input. Corn prices are now the highest they have been in 10 years, according to data releases by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week.
The USDA on Tuesday raised its forecast for the average price of corn to $2.25 to $2.65 per bushel. The last time prices were that high was 1996.
Corn farmers have diverted nearly double of their crop from food uses to ethanol feedstock this year, a change of practice that has helped affect a year-over-year increase of about 24% in the price of the nation's largest crop. Corn use for ethanol jumped 62% this year from 2005, and the USDA estimates ...