Cash corn values are $3.41/bushel this week while FOB ethanol plant DDGS are down slightly from last week to $149.80/MT. The DDGS/cash corn value is 111 percent, above the two-year average of 107 percent.
DDGS prices are mixed this week compared to last week. FOB vessel U.S. Gulf for April delivery is at $227/MT (down slightly from last week). The industry expects another month of challenging logistics on the Mississippi river system as a result of weather. U.S. rail rates were unchanged for nearby delivery. Internationally, 40-foot containers to Southeast Asia (March delivery) were down $2/MT for April delivery, on average.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, recently released data from the USDA-FAS Global Agricultural Trade System showed that 2018 U.S. DDGS exports totaled over 11.8 million metric tons, an increase of 7.76 percent from 2017 volumes. In December 2018 Mexico was the top buyer of U.S. DDGS (132,531 MT), followed by Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea. Exports increased from November 2018 to December 2018 by 5 percent for Indonesia, 21 percent for Thailand and 11 percent for South Korea.