Flooding in the Midwest impacting ethanol facilities has reduced ethanol production by 13 percent in the United States. Plants in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Missouri were forced to shut down or scale back production during and following the flooding. Rail lines are washed out, hampering the transportation of products to and from ethanol plants. Some have damaged facilities or soaked stored corn, and local roads need repair around the facilities.
The U.S. has some 200 ethanol plants capable of producing 1.06 million barrels per day, and about 100,000 to 140,000 barrels per day of capacity has been taken off line due to the floods, according to Reuters. Nebraska officials say crop damage in the state will exceed $400 million. The flooding disaster comes as the industry is in the midst of low prices and demand falling for the first time in 20 years.