U.S. ethanol production slows

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Falling ethanol prices are slowing the production of distilleries in the United States, The Des Moines Register reported Saturday.

"Whenever you see a slowdown, you have to have some concern for where it's going. By the same token, we also know that that's market cycles at work," said Tim Recker, a corn grower near Arlington, Iowa.

Several U.S. ethanol projects have been tabled in recent weeks and a small plant in North Dakota plans to close temporarily, the Register reported Saturday.

For the second month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Friday cut by 100 million bushels its estimate of how much of this year's corn harvest would be converted to ethanol. That corn will fill the demand for grain needed overseas.

"The world is just short of coarse grains, and there's an opportunity on the world market to buy up our stocks, at least on corn," said Recker, president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

U.S. farmers are expected to harvest 13.3 billion bushels of corn this year, with 3.2 billion bushels earmarked for ethanol -- double the amount of corn earmarked for ethanol two years ago.