Valero extinguishes fire at Indiana ethanol plant

A fire at Valero's ethanol plant in Mount Vernon, Indiana, was extinguished quickly on Monday, owner Valero Energy told news agency Reuters, 

Citing ethanol industry sources, Reuters reported that the Mount Vernon plant could be down for up to a week.

There were no injuries in the fire early at the 110 million gal/year plant in Mount Vernon, Valero spokesman Steven Lee said. He declined to elaborate on the facility's operational status, according to the report.

"A source familiar with the operations said the plant would be idled for at least a few days in order to repair a grain dryer where the fire occurred," Reuters wrote.

One corn supplier said Valero was not currently accepting grain deliveries that it had purchased, Reuters reported.

Citing industry sources, Reuters said that fires are relatively common in grain dryers and are viewed as less damaging to the overall operation of the plant than a blaze in equipment used to make ethanol, where biofuel producers make most of their profit.

A plant shutdown would likely have only a short-term impact on ethanol markets. With US ethanol supplies the largest in months, other US ethanol companies were already expected to cut back production levels in the coming weeks due to poor margins.