(Sioux Falls, S.D.)– Sioux Falls-based Poet, the nation’s top ethanol producer, is in buyout talks with a number of ethanol companies.
That’s what Jeff Broin, the privately held company’s founder, told the Associated Press Monday.
Broin says he thinks there’s a lot of promise in the ethanol industry’s future.
He offered no specific timetable and mentioned no company names.
Verasun Energy, the second largest U.S. ethanol producer, sought bankruptcy protection late last month after significant third quarter losses due to a big spike in the cost of corn.
Shares of smaller ethanol players such as Pacific Ethanol and Biofuel Energy are trading at a fraction of what they once were–creating an environment in which it may be cheaper to buy an ethanol company than to build new plants.
Broin says Poet is looking to add plants that are in the right location with the right amenities. He says some plants have been built in the wrong locations.
Poet owns seven plants in Iowa, including one in Emmetsburg.
(Story from the Associated Press.).
