Spot Ethanol Prices Gain on Tight Supply-Demand Balance

    

   NEW YORK (DTN) ---- U.S. spot ethanol prices posted small gains this 
afternoon amid ongoing talk of a tight supply-demand balance and optimism that 
boosted commodities and equities.

   September CBOT corn futures settled 0.6cts higher at $4.330 a bushel that 
boosted September CBOT ethanol futures by 0.9cts to $1.953 gal while the 
October contract climbed 1.0cts to $1.849 gal. 

   In the oil market, October NYMEX RBOB gasoline futures settled 3.25cts 
higher at $1.9216 gal. Spot ethanol market was strong enough that September 
ethanol futures closed 3.14cts below September RBOB futures.

   In other paper ethanol trades, fourth-quarter CBOT swaps traded 5.0cts 
higher at $1.30 gal and second-quarter 2011 CBOT swaps traded 1.0cts higher at 
$1.83 gal.

   In the spot market, prompt Argo ethanol traded several times at $1.97 gal 
and at $1.98 gal during morning session before edging up to a $1.99 to $2.01 
gal range during afternoon trade, up 1.0cts on the session.

   In the New York Harbor, prompt ethanol traded at $2.10 gal, up a penny from 
the levels seen on Wednesday. Traders said they've not seen any ethanol price 
impact from the advancing Hurricane Earl, although the hurricane could delay by 
three to four days any scheduled exports to Europe.

   Earl, at Category 4 strength, was bearing down on the North Carolina coast 
with sustained winds of up to 145 mph and was expected to make landfall tonight 
and sweep through the U.S. East Coast. 

   In the Gulf Coast, spot Houston ethanol was up 1.0cts at $2.09 to $2.10 gal 
on a bid/ask basis, while West Coast prices were elusive, but were pegged 
unchanged at a $2.07 to $2.9 gal range.


Spot Ethanol Prices
Market                          Low       High      Midpoint     Change
New York Harbor              $2.090     $2.110        $2.100     $0.010
Chicago                      $1.990     $2.010        $2.000     $0.010
Houston                      $2.090     $2.110        $2.100     $0.010
Dallas                       $2.050     $2.070        $2.060     $0.010
Northern Calif.              $2.070     $2.100        $2.085     $0.000
Southern Calif.              $2.070     $2.100        $2.085     $0.000
2009 RINs                    $0.007     $0.009        $0.008     $0.000
2010 RINs                    $0.018     $0.019        $0.018     $0.004
($/gal)

   George Orwel, 1.718.522.3969, george.orwel@telventdtn.com, Telvent DTN, 
www.telventdtn.com. (c) 2010 Telvent DTN. All rights reserved.