Alto Ingredients Inc. released first quarter financial results on May 8, reporting improving margins and announcing progress with several ongoing plant improvement projects, including the installation of a CoProMax system at its Magic Valley plant in Idaho.

During an earnings call, Alto Ingredients CEO Mike Kandris said the company is pleased with current market improvements, noting crush margins have improved each month since December. “March 2023 ended with regional natural gas prices, corn basis and ethanol prices greatly improved over December 2022, all of which benefitted our business,” he said.

The company has been working to diversify its operations, including through the production of grain neutral spirits, corn oil, and high-protein coproducts. Longer-term, Alto also plans to expand into primary yeast production and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).

Kandris said near-term initiatives aim to improve plant efficiency and reliability. Where appropriate, Alto is adding additional corn storage and installing its own natural gas pipeline. The company’s long-term vision also includes upgrading equipment, converting its biogas into renewable natural gas (RNG) and building energy cogeneration capabilities at its Pekin campus in Illinois.

Regarding high-quality alcohol production, Alto has updated the distillation system at its Pekin wet mills to produce 190 proof and low-moisture 200 proof grain neutral spirits.

In December, Alto moderated production at its Columbia plant in Oregon and temporarily idled the Magic Valley facility to minimize the impact of sustained high natural gas prices in the Pacific Northwest. The company took advantage of the situation by finalizing installation of a CoProMax system at its Magic Valley plant. Kandris said the facility is currently aligning the new and existing operating systems at the facility to ensure optimal efficiency. The plant is expected to achieve full production of both higher corn oil volumes and higher quality dry protein at the facility by the end of the second quarter.

In late 2023, Alto plans to begin rolling out corn oil technology at its other three dry mill facilities. Following successful operation of the high-protein system at Magic Valley, the company also plans to add that technology to its other dry mills.

At the Pekin campus, Alto is in advanced negotiations related to a potential CCS project, according to Kandris. He said the company has selected a third-party FEED firm to determine capture, compression and engineering design. That study is expected to be complete in the third quarter. Kandris also said the company is finalizing the selection of a development partner to provide turnkey transportation, sequestration and monitoring services. Alto aims to have the CCS project operational by 2026, he added.

Alto reported net sales of $313.9 million for the first quarter, compared to $308.1 million during the same period of last year. Gross loss was $3.2 million, compared to a gross profit of $4.8 million. Operating loss was $11.6 million, compared to $2.9 million. Net loss available to common stockholders was $13.5 million, or 18 cents per share, compared to $2.9 million, or 4 cents per share, during the first quarter of 2022.