From WATTAgNet:

U.S. ethanol producers saw their best streak of profitability – 95 weeks without a loss for the model Iowa plant used to track and estimate industry profitability.

Using the average net profit for the representative plant, University of Illinois economist Scott Irwin estimated the entire U.S. ethanol industry pretax profit at $7.8 billion for 2014.

“2014 really was an amazing year for ethanol,” Irwin said in a report. “The record profits of 2014 are also part of the longest run of uninterrupted profits since we first began estimating margins in early 2007. The streak of positive profits began on March 15, 2013, and ended on January 2, 2015, or a total of 95 consecutive weeks without a loss.”

The average profit during the 22-month streak was 43 cents per gallon, more than 10 times the average 4 cents per gallon earned over the previous seven years.

The representative model plant assumes an average yield of 2.8 gallons of ethanol (including denaturant), includes fixed costs of 21 cents per gallon and debt service. The model is based on ethanol plant benchmarking studies by Christianson and Associates. Income in the model is based on weekly ethanol and DDGS prices reported at Iowa ethanol plants and reported crude corn oil prices. Input costs are also Iowa-based.