CropEnergies reports reduced ethanol production, pricing

CropEnergies operates an ethanol plant in Wilton, U.K. / Photo: CropEnergies

July 10, 2023

BY Erin Voegele

European ethanol producer CropEnergies AG has announced ethanol production and earnings were both down during the fiscal first quarter of 2023-’24, the three months ended May 31. The company attributed the declines to maintenance shutdowns and normalized ethanol prices.

The company currently operates biorefineries located in Zeitz, Germany; Wanze, Belgium; Loon-Plage, France; and Wilton, U.K. The plants have a combined ethanol production capacity of 1.3 million cubic meters (343.42 million gallons) per year. The plants also have the capacity to produce 1 million metric tons of food and animal feed annually, along with 415,000 metric tons of liquefied carbon dioxide.

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CropEnergies produced 221,000 cubic meters of ethanol during the fiscal first quarter of 2023-’24, down from 281,000 cubic meters produced during the same period of the previous fiscal year. Revenues were EUR 321 million, down from EUR 399 million, with operating profit of EUR 14 million, down from EUR 87 million.

The company primarily attributed the decline in revenues and results to lower production volumes caused by maintenance shutdowns and reduced ethanol sales prices. Ethanol prices during the same period of last year were exceptionally high, but have since normalized, CropEnergies said. The company also credited early price hedging for raw materials as significantly contributing to the strong results experienced during the first quarter of 2022-’23. Raw material and energy prices have recently fallen significantly, CropEnergies added.

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For the current financial year, CropEnergies expects raw material and energy costs to be comparable to the costs experienced last year. Ethanol prices are expected to continue to remain volatile, and in a normalized market environment are trading well below last year’s record levels. Volatility in ethanol; prices, raw material and energy markets were heightened last year by the war in Ukraine. CropEnergies said it currently expects this volatility to gradually decrease.

For the full fiscal year, CropEnergies expects revenues int the range of EUR 1.27 billion to EUR 1.37 billion, compared to EUR1.49 billion last year. The operating result is expected to be EUR 95 million to EUR 145 million, down from EUR 251 million last year. This corresponds to an EBITDA of EUR 140 million to EUR 190million, compared to EUR 294 million during the previous fiscal year.


 

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