Milling & Baking News - August 16, 2005 - 24

D A T A

showed gains ranging from 30,000 to
34,000 cwts over preliminary data compared with increases of 22,000 cwts to
35,000 a year ago.
In the final quarter of 2004, daily
flour milling capacity was placed at
1,492,598 cwts, down 19,466, or 1.3%,
from 1,512,064 at the close of 2003. That
compares with 1,499,862 cwts at the
close of 2002 and 1,531,035 at the end
of 2001, which was the all-time high for
the fourth-quarter numbers. In a yet
unresolved issue, the Census Bureau
shows its fourth-quarter benchmark
capacity at 1,492,598 cwts at one point
in the summary and at 1,496,000 at
another. Milling & Baking News is seeking a resolution of this difference. The
Census inputs its quarterly capacity
estimates based on the October-December benchmark number.
Average daily milling capacity in
2004, based on the summary revisions,
was 1,497,000 cwts, compared with 2003
at 1,510,000 and 2002 at 1,489,000.
Milling & Baking News estimates average daily production of flour in 2004 at
1,279,000 cwts, up from the preliminary of
1,266,000. Daily average output compares
with 1,291,000 in 2003, 1,285,000 in 2002,
1,318,000 in 2001 and 1,372,000 in 2000.
Reflecting increases in daily flour
output offset by gains in capacity, the
operating rate of U.S. mills in 2004, as
estimated by Milling & Baking News, averaged 85.5% of six-day capacity, down
one percentage point from the preliminary. It was unchanged from 2003 when
it also was 85.5%. In 2002, the average
operating rate was 86.4%.
In 2004, quarterly running time ranged
from 87.2% in July-September to 84% in

In line with the 2004 summary's upward
revision in flour output, as compared with

but down 265,578 tons, or 3.8%, from
7,029,371 in 2003. It compared with
6,892,994 in 2002, 7,274,979 in 2001 and
7,374,115 in 2000, the record.
Average flour extraction in 2004, indicated by summary data but calculated
by Milling & Baking News, was 74.8%,
compared with the preliminary indication of 75.1%. Extraction averaged 74.3%

preliminary quarterly data, the final wheat
grind and millfeed also gained.
Wheat grind by mills in 2004 aggregated 876,047,000 bus, up 10,917,000, or
1.3%, from the preliminary 865,130,000,
but down 13,141,000, or 1.5%, from
889,188,000 in 2003. Grind totaled
889,414,000 bus in 2002, 914,036,000
in 2001 and in 2000 set the record at
944,868,000 bus.
Millfeed production for 2004 at
6,763,793 tons was up 202,561, or
3.1%, from the preliminary 6,561,232,

in 2003, 73.7% in 2002 and 73.8% in 2001.
The flour extraction average in 1997 was
a record 76% and in 1996, it was 75.5%.
Semolina production and durum
grind showed sharp decreases from the
preliminary quarterly data, in contrast to
the upward revisions in the overall flour
numbers. Semolina output in the 2004
summary totaled 26,595,000 cwts, down
1,840,000, or 6.4%, from the preliminary
quarterly data of 28,799,000 and down
2,732,000 from 29,691,000 in 2003. It
compared with 32,411,000 in 2002. MBN

January-March, while the variation in
2003 was between 88.2% in July-September and 83.6% in April-June. The variation in 2002 was between 89.1% in JulySeptember and 84.6% in January-March.

Wheat grind, millfeed decrease

W A S H I N G T O N

Energy bill nearly doubles amount
of ethanol required by 2012
WASHINGTON - President George
Bush signed the comprehensive Energy
Policy Act of 2005 on Aug. 8 that included nearly doubling the amount of
renewable fuels required to be used by
2012 and adjusting tax credits for ethanol and biodiesel producers.
H.R. 6 passed by wide margins in both
the House and Senate in late July, indicating strong bi-partisan support.
Renewable Fuels Association (R.F.A.)
president Bob Dinneen said it was "the
strongest biofuels legislation ever" and
"a more sustainable, forward-looking
energy policy. By enacting the energy bill
the U.S. is saying that we will no longer
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tolerate being completely dependent on
petroleum for our transportation needs."
The legislation increased the renewable
fuels standard (R.F.S.), or basically the
amount of ethanol that must be blended
into gasoline, from 4 billion gallons in
2006 to 7.5 billion gallons in 2012.
U.S. ethanol production in 2004 was a
record 3.4 billion gallons. According to
the R.F.A., 88 plants currently operating
had a capacity of 3.9 billion gallons of
ethanol. Fifteen more plants were under
construction.
About 1,260 million bus, or 11%, of the
U.S. corn crop was used to make ethanol in
2004. Use of corn for ethanol adds 25@50c

per bu to the value of corn, according to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The bill also now defines a small ethanol producer as one who produces up to
60 million gallons per year, up from 30
million gallons previously. The change
allows newer farmer-owned facilities,
which typically produce 40 million to
50 million gallons per year, to qualify for
the ethanol producer tax credit of 10c per
gallon on up to 15 million gallons.
The excise tax credit provides $1 a gallon
for agri-biodiesel made from farm products
like soybeans and 50c a gallon if made from
other products such as recycled cooking
oil. It also creates a new tax credit for small
agri-biodiesel producers of 10c a gallon for
up to 15 million gallons of agri-biodiesel
from producers with annual capacity not
exceeding 60 million gallons. MBN
Milling & Baking News, August 16, 2005 / 25

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Milling & Baking News - August 16, 2005

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