August 28, 2019 at 4:23 p.m.
Impact unclear
POET stays mute on what production reduction will mean for Portland facility
Impact unclear
POET announced plans last week to idle one facility and reduce production at half of its biorefineries.
How specifically that is impacting the company’s plant on the southwest side of Portland remains unclear.
POET announced in a press release last week that it would halt production at its facility in Cloverdale, saying that decision was directly tied to the Trump administration’s authorization earlier this month of 31 small refinery exemptions via the Renewable Fuel Standard.
“The Renewable Fuel Standard was designed to increase the use of clean, renewable biofuels and generate grain demand for farmers,” said POET chairman and CEO Jeff Broin in the release. “Our industry invested billions of dollars based on the belief that oil could not restrict access to the market and EPA would stand behind the intent of the Renewable Fuel Standard. Unfortunately, the oil industry is manipulating the EPA and is now using the RFS to destroy demand for biofuels, reducing the price of commodities and gutting rural economies in the process.”
The company also said it has reduced production at half of its facilities, with Ohio and Iowa being the hardest-hit areas. In total, the company said its remaining 28 facilities will see a total reduction in corn processing of 100 million bushels.
POET officials this week would not provide specifics about the impact on production and employment levels at the Portland biorefining facility.
How specifically that is impacting the company’s plant on the southwest side of Portland remains unclear.
POET announced in a press release last week that it would halt production at its facility in Cloverdale, saying that decision was directly tied to the Trump administration’s authorization earlier this month of 31 small refinery exemptions via the Renewable Fuel Standard.
“The Renewable Fuel Standard was designed to increase the use of clean, renewable biofuels and generate grain demand for farmers,” said POET chairman and CEO Jeff Broin in the release. “Our industry invested billions of dollars based on the belief that oil could not restrict access to the market and EPA would stand behind the intent of the Renewable Fuel Standard. Unfortunately, the oil industry is manipulating the EPA and is now using the RFS to destroy demand for biofuels, reducing the price of commodities and gutting rural economies in the process.”
The company also said it has reduced production at half of its facilities, with Ohio and Iowa being the hardest-hit areas. In total, the company said its remaining 28 facilities will see a total reduction in corn processing of 100 million bushels.
POET officials this week would not provide specifics about the impact on production and employment levels at the Portland biorefining facility.
The Globe Gazette (Iowa) reported that Kelly Hansen, general manager of POET’s Hanlontown facility, said two employees at his plant had been furloughed because of the company’s decision.
Local POET officials referred questions about the changes to Carla English, the company’s director of public relations. She indicated that no plants other than the Cloverdale facility are currently slated to go offline.
“We don’t have any plans to do anymore full idling at this point,” she said. “We’re going to continue to monitor market conditions and continue to make decisions down the road as things change.”
The idling of the Cloverdale plant, which processes more than 30 million bushels of corn each year, is expected to take several weeks.
POET’s press release took aim at small refinery exemptions, saying the Environmental Protection Agency has “mismanaged” them, including authorizing exemptions for companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron. It said the EPA has “created an artificial cap on domestic demand of ethanol by 4 billion gallons and corn by 1.4 bushels.
Since Trump took office, the EPA has more than quadrupled the number of waivers it has granted to refiners, Reuters reported. That includes 31 exemptions granted this month from applications submitted in 2018 and 35 exemptions from the 2017 batch of applications.
“POET made strategic decisions to support President Trump’s goal of boosting the farm economy,” said Broin in the release. “However, these goals are contradicted by bailouts to oil companies. The result is pain for Midwest farmers and the reduction of hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of economic activity across Indiana.”
The company’s Portland facility went online in September 2017. It produces about 68 million gallons of ethanol using about 24 million bushels of corn each year.
POET purchased the Cloverdale plant in 2010. It produced about 92 million gallons of ethanol per year.
Its other Indiana facilities are in North Manchester, Alexandria and Shelbyville. Its Ohio plants are in Leipsic, Marion and Fostoria.
Local POET officials referred questions about the changes to Carla English, the company’s director of public relations. She indicated that no plants other than the Cloverdale facility are currently slated to go offline.
“We don’t have any plans to do anymore full idling at this point,” she said. “We’re going to continue to monitor market conditions and continue to make decisions down the road as things change.”
The idling of the Cloverdale plant, which processes more than 30 million bushels of corn each year, is expected to take several weeks.
POET’s press release took aim at small refinery exemptions, saying the Environmental Protection Agency has “mismanaged” them, including authorizing exemptions for companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron. It said the EPA has “created an artificial cap on domestic demand of ethanol by 4 billion gallons and corn by 1.4 bushels.
Since Trump took office, the EPA has more than quadrupled the number of waivers it has granted to refiners, Reuters reported. That includes 31 exemptions granted this month from applications submitted in 2018 and 35 exemptions from the 2017 batch of applications.
“POET made strategic decisions to support President Trump’s goal of boosting the farm economy,” said Broin in the release. “However, these goals are contradicted by bailouts to oil companies. The result is pain for Midwest farmers and the reduction of hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of economic activity across Indiana.”
The company’s Portland facility went online in September 2017. It produces about 68 million gallons of ethanol using about 24 million bushels of corn each year.
POET purchased the Cloverdale plant in 2010. It produced about 92 million gallons of ethanol per year.
Its other Indiana facilities are in North Manchester, Alexandria and Shelbyville. Its Ohio plants are in Leipsic, Marion and Fostoria.
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