Most ethanol plants finished their spring maintenance schedules by early May and got back to running at full pace. DDGS demand from Asia remains weak, so the normally robust Chicago container loading market has lost a bit of its importance as a destination for all but nearby plants. Lately, a lot of DDGS has been loaded into barges on the Ohio, Illinois and Mississippi rivers, although rain events have tempered those movements lately.

In the domestic market, DDGS is (or should be) at full inclusion rates for all animal sector rations. Given its value of about 70 to 80 percent the value of delivered corn, and a big discount per unit of protein versus soymeal, it is hard to find an ingredient that is more economically efficient in an animal diet. As a result, we’re seeing more railcars and trucks moving product to eastern hog and southeastern poultry barns. Buyers have been looking to book the forward months around current spot prices, but, based on margin calculations, plants have been reluctant to sell.

On the export side, the bulk markets supplied by railcars and barges have displaced a healthy amount of tonnage previously destined for containers in Chicago and East Coast ports. Turkey continues to be an important export destination, passing Mexico in March as the largest monthly volume destination. Boats are loading out of the Gulf (via barges) and off the West Coast (out of railcars). Mexico has continued to be a good destination for loaded trains, although the NAFTA discussions and resulting impacts on exchange rates, are generating more questions than answers at times.

The planting season is off to an uneven start for market watchers, and events in Washington, D.C., will require continued attention as the season unfolds.

 

LOCATION

June 2017

May 2017

June 2016

Minnesota

92

92

120

Chicago

104

103

140

Buffalo, N.Y.

125

120

140

Central Calif.

156

150

179

Central Fla.

148

148

155