May 13 2008
Penford Corporation, a global leader in renewable, natural-based ingredient systems for food and industrial applications, today announced that it had begun commercial sales of ethanol from its new ethanol facility. The ethanol facility is an expansion of Penford's existing wet corn milling operations located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The facility is designed to efficiently produce between 25 million and 45 million gallons of ethanol annually.
Tim Kortemeyer, President of Penford’s Industrial Ingredients business, stated that, “Starch demand from our paper customers remains fairly solid. For the next several months we intend to utilize our increased wet milling capacity in Cedar Rapids to balance customer requirements for our specialty starches with currently attractive opportunities in the ethanol market.” Kortemeyer added, “Our employees and contractors have worked diligently to complete this expansion at roughly half the capital cost of a similarly sized ‘greenfield’ ethanol plant. I want to congratulate everyone on a safe and successful construction and start up.”
Tom Malkoski, Penford’s President and Chief Executive Officer, noted that, “The addition of ethanol will allow our Cedar Rapids plant to increase production and improve asset utilization, while providing us with new flexibility to maximize returns from multiple market opportunities. Over time, we expect that this investment will deliver real value for our shareholders.”