Plunge in Market for Ethanol Credits Spurred by Trump Review

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump and his top agriculture and environmental officials are chatting again about modifying the U.S. biofuels mandate, and that sent the market for ethanol credits screaming lower.

Renewable Identification Numbers tracking 2018 ethanol consumption quotas fell 6.1 percent, according to broker data. RINs are used by oil refiners and regulators to track compliance of biofuel rules. Trump and his officials are said to be holding summits to discuss possible changes to the mandate.

Amid signs of shifts in Washington, “you see people that are hoarding RINs start dumping them in the market,” anticipating an extended slump, Gary Simmons, a senior vice president of supply at Valero Energy Corp., said this month on a conference call with analysts.

U.S. Government Seeks to Moderate Biofuel-Credit Prices: Agency

--With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy

To contact the reporters on this story: Mario Parker in Chicago at mparker22@bloomberg.net, Bailey Schulz in New York at bschulz17@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net, Patrick McKiernan, Millie Munshi

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.