Pacific Ethanol restarts Madera plant

Published on 05/01/2014 - 11:50 am

Written by Business Journal staff

Pacific Ethanol's plant on Avenue 12 in Madera reopened after being shuttered for five years.Pacific Ethanol's plant on Avenue 12 in Madera reopened after being shuttered for five years.Pacific Ethanol announced it has restarted its Madera ethanol plant, idle for more than five years.

The Sacramento-based company announced the news along with its first quarter financial results, showing an operating income of $34.9 million compared to a loss of $3.2 million the same period in 2013.

Ethanol production also picked up, going from 35.3 million gallons sold in the first three months of 2013 to 39.8 million gallons in the latest quarter.

The Madera facility, which has the capacity to produce 40 million gallons of corn-based ethanol per year, joins Pacific Ethanol's three other plants in Stockton, Boardman, Ore. and Burley, Idaho.

The restart means a total production capacity of 200 million gallons of ethanol per year at the four plants, plus an additional 35 jobs for Madera County.

Pacific Ethanol idled the now 8-year-old plant in October 2008, just months before filing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the face of tight margins.

Since that time, the company has been gradually reducing its debt and buying back its assets while continuing to increase its ethanol output.

Last summer, Pacific Ethanol started the process of a parcel map split that would allow it to sell a granary located next to the plant on Avenue 12 off of Highway 99.

The company also plans to install corn oil extraction technology at the plant later in the year and hopes to source a percentage of feedstock with 15 percent of the corn and grain sorghum grown nearby, as it's doing near Stockton.

"Our first quarter 2014 results reflect the company's exceptional performance in both production and marketing at a time of overall favorable market conditions in the industry," said Neil Koehler, Pacific Ethanol's president and CEO, in a release. "I am thrilled that today we commenced ethanol production at our Madera plant. We have achieved this important milestone bringing all 200 million gallons of operating capacity back on line. the company is in a strong position to meet the increasing demand for low-carbon renewable fuels and to continue to grow the business."

Since emerging from bankruptcy in June 2010, Pacific Ethanol has increased its ownership in PE Op Co., the holding company for its four ethanol production facilities, to 91 percent.

Founded in 2003, Pacific Ethanol also sells co-products, including wet distiller grain and also resells ethanol produced in the Midwest through its sales and distribution arm Kinergy Marketing.

http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/news/energy-and-environment/11811-pacific-ethanol-restarts-madera-plant