Valero Restarts Idled Ethanol Plants

CHICAGO--Valero Energy Corp. ( VLO ) soon will have all 10 of its ethanol plants online and operating "at or close to capacity," after it idled three of them last year due to low or negative margins, company spokesman Bill Day said Monday.

Valero restarted its plant in Albion, Neb., around the start of the year. Its Bloomingburg, Ohio, plant restarted at the beginning of March, and the company expects to restart its Linden, Ind., plant in the next week or so, Mr. Day said.

"Corn prices have moderated somewhat and ethanol prices have kept pace," improving margins at the plants, he said.

Local corn shortages have challenged various ethanol producers since severe drought last year sharply cut the size of the U.S. corn harvest.

Write to Owen Fletcher at owen.fletcher@dowjones.com

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