PHOTO: HAWKEYE ENERGY HOLDINGS INC.
BUSINESS
Hawkeye Renewable’s 95 MMgy ethanol plant in Iowa Falls, Iowa, has rail access to bring in corn and ship out distillers grains. Its marketing subsidiary, Hawkeye Gold, will conduct all of the ethanol marketing activities in-house, breaking a four-year marketing agreement it had with Eco-Energy since 2004.
ough preliminary research on third parties that provide all-in-one services is the key to financial and operational success. “In the long run you need to find out which function they’re an expert in and which side the marketing entity is more concentrated in,” Sagheer says. “Everything is wrapped up into one entity and therefore the boundaries can get a little fuzzy at that point.” A sound path for establishing the right marketing agreement would be to refer to an ethanol contractor or builder’s preferred vendor list, according to Prescott. Esteemed ethanol contractors or builders such as Granite Falls, Minn.-based Fagen Inc. offered this service for Cardinal Ethanol. It’s a service that Prescott gladly accepted for this project. “We went to Fagen right from the start and said, ‘We don’t want to reinvent the wheel,’” Prescott says. “When you go to the bank and they see that you use someone that isn’t on the list I’m sure they would double-check
and wonder why you’re doing something different from most in the industry.” As far as marketing ethanol goes, current producers agree that contracting with third-party service providers is recommended for would-be producers looking to establish themselves in the industry. “It’s advantageous to have a third-party service provider to market your ethanol for you to start off with,” Sagheer says. “You need to build the relationships over time. As you hit a substantial volume and as you go beyond that single plant entity and as you get into the larger scale, it makes sense to try to bring some of that ethanol marketing in-house, especially as you diversify your business and try to capture a little more of the supply chain.”
Solo Strategy One ethanol company that achieved substantial production volume
ETHANOL MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT!
Tanks, Columns, Heat Exchangers, and More! See All Our Equipment Online @ WWW.FEDEQUIP.COM
ALL EQUIPMENT READY TO SHIP!
28182
25000 GAL 316 STAINLESS STEEL STORAGE TANK
27933
12000 GAL WALKER TANK, 316 S/S, 15#, HORIZONTAL
27621
10000 GAL STAINLESS STEEL TANK
28221
2000 GAL MUELLER KETTLE, S/S, 90#
27450
1000 SQ FT BAEUERLE & MORRIS HEAT EXCHANGER, S/S, 40/75#
20767
6300 SQ FT WELDON HEAT EXCHANGER, 316 S/S, 25/125#
20832
4951 SQ FT SOUTHERN HEAT EXCHANGER, 316L S/S, 70/138#
25648
5.4 SQ. FT. LUWA THIN FILM EVAPORATOR, S/S
27449
42” X 7’6” OVERLY COLUMN, 304 S/S, 35#
Item # 28182
THE SOURCE ... for Chemical and Related Process Equipment.
8200 BESSEMER AVENUE DEALS@FEDEQUIP.COM (800) 652-2466 100
CLEVELAND, OHIO 44127 WWW.FEDEQUIP.COM (216) 271-5210 FAX ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE MARCH 2008