Ethanol company cuts production after EPA grants slew of small-refinery waivers to the Renewable Fuel Standard

"One of the nation's largest ethanol companies announced on Tuesday it will idle a 92-million-gallon plant in Cloverdale, Indiana, following EPA's decision to grant 31 new small-refinery waivers to the Renewable Fuel Standard for 2018," Todd Neeley reports for DTN/The Progressive Farmer. "Since 2016, President Donald Trump's administration has issued 85 exemptions totaling 4.03 billion gallons of ethanol-equivalent gallons not being blended with gasoline."

A spokesperson for POET said the company has already cut production at half of its plants, with the largest cuts at plants in Iowa and Ohio, and that shuttering the Indiana plant will hurt the local economy, Neeley reports.

"In addition, the company said numerous jobs will be consolidated across POET's 28 plants and corn processing will be reduced by an additional 100 million bushels across Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, South Dakota and Missouri," Neeley reports.