Greetings from the CEO
Aug 15, 2025
The global ethanol market recently experienced rapid change and increased opportunities. U.S. ethanol producers are starting to see significant financial gains. Over the past six months, the industry has faced some of the lowest crush margins in recent memory, making the start of 2025 particularly difficult. We have seen margins improve in June and July, and it appears we will have decent margins the rest of 2025. They are not as good as 2023 and 2024, but respectable. Our plant is running very well, and July should be a good month. Hopefully, we can string several months together with this performance. That would give us a respectable year for 2025.
As we evaluate the year ahead, current forecasts for the rest of 2025 are considerably lower than what we experienced in 2023 and 2024. While there may be improvements, we are approaching the outlook cautiously.
That said, we aren’t sitting still. A major capital project is underway to improve our long-term efficiency, reliability, and sustainability. This investment will position us to face market competition in the future as we handle market challenges. The project will cost approximately $11.5 million and take about a year to complete, it will reduce our energy cost substantially and improve our annual production slightly. It is projected to have less than a three-year payback. With a major project like this, it will have an impact on cash returned to members for the next 12 months. I am hopeful that we will make a cash distribution to cover tax liabilities next spring. That is the plan at this time. With interest rates at current levels, we are not looking at borrowing any money to fund this project. We plan to pay for it with earnings. I know that is not what many of you want to hear, but this project will keep us competitive in the future and should increase future returns to you. We will have short-term pain for long-term gains. I am sure Dan Wych will explain the project in detail in his article, so I won’t get into the details in mine. However, I will say we have looked at the project for several years, and it is a great project that will enhance our plants’ performance for many years into the future.
As of June 30, 2025, United Ethanol produced 28,844,293 gallons of ethanol. The plant also produced 65,013 tons of dried distillers’ grains (DDGs) and extracted 8,352,913 pounds of corn oil.