Alto Ingredients (ALTO) 10-Q2024 Q3 Quarterly report

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One) 

☒ QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2024

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from ______ to _______

Commission File Number: 000-21467

ALTO INGREDIENTS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(916) 403-2123
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

As of November 7, 2024, there were 76,646,125 shares of Alto Ingredients, Inc. common stock, $0.001 par value per share, and 896 shares of Alto Ingredients, Inc. non-voting common stock, $0.001 par value per share, outstanding.

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.

ALTO INGREDIENTS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands)

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

ALTO INGREDIENTS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (CONTINUED)
(in thousands, except par value)

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

ALTO INGREDIENTS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(unaudited, in thousands, except per share data)

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

ALTO INGREDIENTS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(unaudited, in thousands)

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

ALTO INGREDIENTS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
(unaudited, in thousands)

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

ALTO INGREDIENTS, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(UNAUDITED)

Organization and Business – The consolidated financial statements include, for all periods presented, the accounts of Alto Ingredients, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its direct and indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”), including Kinergy Marketing LLC, an Oregon limited liability company (“Kinergy”), Alto Nutrients, LLC, a California limited liability company, Eagle Alcohol Company, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Eagle Alcohol”), Alto Op Co., a Delaware corporation, Alto Pekin, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and Alto ICP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and the Company’s production facilities in Oregon and Idaho.

The Company produces and distributes renewable fuel, essential ingredients and specialty alcohols. The Company also specializes in break bulk distribution of specialty alcohols produced by the Company and third parties. The Company’s production facilities in Pekin, Illinois are located in the heart of the Corn Belt. The Company’s two production facilities in Oregon and Idaho are located in close proximity to both feed and renewable fuel customers.

The Company has a combined alcohol production capacity of 350 million gallons per year and produces, on an annualized basis, over 1.6 million tons of essential ingredients, such as dried yeast, corn protein meal, corn protein feed, corn germ, and distillers grains and liquid feed used in commercial animal feed and pet foods. In addition, the Company markets and distributes renewable fuel produced by third parties.

The Company focuses on five key markets: Health, Home & Beauty; Food & Beverage; Industry & Agriculture; Essential Ingredients; and Renewable Fuels. Products for the Health, Home & Beauty market include specialty alcohols used in mouthwash, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, hand sanitizers, disinfectants and cleaners. Products for the Food & Beverage markets include grain neutral spirits used in alcoholic beverages and vinegar as well as corn germ used for corn oils. Products for Industry & Agriculture markets include alcohols and other products for paint applications and fertilizers. Products for Essential Ingredients markets include dried yeast, corn protein meal, corn protein feed, corn germ, and distillers grains and liquid feed used in commercial animal feed and pet foods. Products for Renewable Fuels markets include fuel-grade ethanol and distillers corn oil used as a feedstock for renewable diesel and biodiesel fuels.

As of September 30, 2024, all of the Company’s production facilities were operating. In January 2024, the Company temporarily hot-idled its Magic Valley facility to minimize losses from negative regional crush margins and to expedite the installation of additional equipment needed to achieve the intended production rate, quality and consistency from the corn oil and high protein system at the facility. The Company restarted its Magic Valley facility in July 2024. As market conditions change, the Company may increase, decrease or idle production at one or more operating facilities or resume operations at any idled facility.

Basis of Presentation–Interim Financial Statements – The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements and related notes have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. Results for interim periods should not be considered indicative of results for a full year. These interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. The accounting policies used in preparing these consolidated financial statements are the same as those described in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair statement of the results for interim periods have been included. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Credit Losses – Trade accounts receivable are presented at original invoice amount, net of the allowance for credit losses. The Company sells specialty alcohols to large consumer product companies, sells renewable fuel to gasoline refining and distribution companies, sells essential ingredients such as dried yeast for human and pet food and to animal feed customers, including distillers grains to export markets, sells those same and other feed products to dairy operators and animal feedlots and sells corn oil to poultry and biodiesel customers, in each case generally without requiring collateral.

The carrying amount of accounts receivable is reduced by a valuation allowance that reflects the Company’s best estimate of the amounts that will not be collected. The Company regularly reviews accounts receivable and based on assessments of current customer creditworthiness, estimates the portion, if any, of the customer balance that will not be collected.

Of the accounts receivable balance, approximately $46,887,000 and $51,315,000 at September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, were used as collateral under Kinergy’s operating line of credit. The allowance for credit losses was $50,000 and $85,000 as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. The Company recorded a credit reserve of $24,000 and credit loss recovery of $8,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The Company recorded a credit loss recovery of $23,000 and a credit loss recovery of $54,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The Company does not have any off-balance sheet credit exposure related to its customers.

Share Repurchase Program – On September 12, 2022, the Company announced a share repurchase program under which it may repurchase up to $50 million of its common stock with an initial purchase authorization of $10 million. The Company’s lender has further limited the Company’s purchase authorization to $5 million. Amounts in excess of the purchase authorization of $5 million will require additional lender consent and amounts in excess of the initial purchase authorization of $10 million will require additional board and preferred stockholder authorization. The share repurchase program does not have an expiration date, does not require the repurchase of any particular amount of shares, and may be implemented, modified, suspended or discontinued in whole or in part at any time and without further notice. As repurchases are made, the Company will retire the shares, resulting in a reduction of issued and outstanding shares. For the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Company repurchased an aggregate of 1,249,000 shares for $2,683,000 in cash. The Company did not repurchase any shares during the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2024. As of September 30, 2024, total repurchases under the program since its inception equaled 2,036,000 shares for approximately $5,000,000 in cash.

Financial Instruments – The carrying values of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, accounts receivable, derivative assets, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and derivative liabilities are reasonable estimates of their fair values because of the short maturity of these items. The Company believes the carrying value of its long-term debt instruments are not considered materially different than fair value because they were recently issued.

Income from Cash Grant – In 2022, the Company applied for the USDA’s Biofuel Producer Program (“BPP”). The program was created as part of the CARES Act in 2020, which allocated $700,000,000 to support biofuel producers who experienced market losses due to the pandemic. The cash grant is not required to be repaid. Since these funds are provided to subsidize historical losses of the Company, and are not required to be repaid, the Company accounted for the proceeds by analogy to International Accounting Standards 20, Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance, and reported the amount as income from cash grant in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. The Company received $2,812,000 in cash from the BPP during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023. The Company did not receive any such funds in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024.

Estimates and Assumptions – The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates are required as part of determining the allowance for credit losses, net realizable value of inventory, long-lived asset impairments, valuation allowances on deferred income taxes, the potential outcome of future tax consequences of events recognized in the Company’s financial statements or tax returns, and the valuation of assets acquired and liabilities assumed as a result of business combinations. Actual results and outcomes may materially differ from management’s estimates and assumptions.

The Company reports its financial and operating performance in three segments: (1) Pekin Campus production, which includes the production and sale of alcohols and essential ingredients produced at the Company’s Pekin, Illinois campus (2) marketing and distribution, which includes marketing and merchant trading for Company-produced alcohols and essential ingredients on an aggregated basis, and sales of fuel-grade ethanol sourced from third parties, and (3) Western production, which includes the production and sale of fuel-grade ethanol and essential ingredients produced at the Company’s two western production facilities on an aggregated basis, neither of which are individually so significant to be considered a separately reportable segment.

The following tables set forth certain financial data for the Company’s operating segments (in thousands):

The following table sets forth the Company’s total assets by operating segment (in thousands):

Inventories consisted primarily of bulk ethanol, specialty alcohols, corn, essential ingredients and unleaded fuel, and are valued at the lower of cost or net realizable value, with cost determined on a first-in, first-out basis. Inventory is net of a valuation adjustment of $203,000 and $2,201,000 as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. Inventory balances consisted of the following (in thousands):

The business and activities of the Company expose it to a variety of market risks, including risks related to changes in commodity prices. The Company monitors and manages these financial exposures as an integral part of its risk management program. This program recognizes the unpredictability of financial markets and seeks to reduce the potentially adverse effects that market volatility could have on operating results.

Commodity Risk – Cash Flow Hedges – The Company uses derivative instruments to protect cash flows from fluctuations caused by volatility in commodity prices for periods of up to eighteen months to protect gross profit margins from potentially adverse effects of market and price volatility on alcohol sales and purchase commitments where the prices are set at a future date and/or if the contracts specify a floating or index-based price. In addition, the Company hedges anticipated sales of alcohol to minimize its exposure to the potentially adverse effects of price volatility. These derivatives may be designated and documented as cash flow hedges and effectiveness is evaluated by assessing the probability of the anticipated transactions and regressing commodity futures prices against the Company’s purchase and sales prices. Ineffectiveness, which is defined as the degree to which the derivative does not offset the underlying exposure, is recognized immediately in cost of goods sold. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company did not designate any of its derivatives as cash flow hedges.

Commodity Risk – Non-Designated Hedges – The Company uses derivative instruments to lock in prices for certain amounts of corn and alcohols by entering into exchange-traded futures contracts or options for those commodities. These derivatives are not designated for hedge accounting treatment. The changes in fair value of these contracts are recorded on the balance sheet and recognized immediately in cost of goods sold. The Company recognized net losses of $2,566,000 and net losses $2,711,000 as the change in the fair value of these contracts for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The Company recognized net gains of $9,002,000 and $2,463,000 as the change in the fair value of these contracts for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Non-Designated Derivative Instruments – The classification and amounts of the Company’s derivatives not designated as hedging instruments, and related cash collateral balances, are as follows (in thousands):

The above amounts represent the gross balances of the contracts; however, the Company does have a right of offset with each of its derivative brokers, but the Company’s intent is to close out positions individually, therefore, the positions are reported at gross.

The classification and amounts of the Company’s realized and unrealized gains and losses for its derivatives not designated as hedging instruments are as follows (in thousands):

Long-term borrowings are summarized as follows (in thousands):

Excess Availability – As of September 30, 2024, Kinergy had $27.2 million in unused borrowing availability under its line of credit with Wells Fargo Bank and the Company had $65.0 million that may be available for capital improvement projects under its term loan with Orion Infrastructure Capital, subject to certain conditions. At September 30, 2024, the interest rates for the Kinergy line of credit and the Orion term loan were 6.43% and 10.00%, respectively.

Sales Commitments – At September 30, 2024, the Company had entered into sales contracts with its major customers to sell certain quantities of alcohol and essential ingredients. The Company had open alcohol indexed-price contracts for 70,128,000 gallons as of September 30, 2024 and open fixed-price alcohol sales contracts totaling $112,966,000 as of September 30, 2024. The Company had open fixed-price sales contracts for essential ingredients totaling $6,797,000 and open indexed-price sales contracts of essential ingredients for 44,000 tons as of September 30, 2024. These sales contracts are scheduled to be completed throughout 2024 and 2025.

Purchase Commitments – At September 30, 2024, the Company had indexed-price purchase contracts to purchase 14,468,000 gallons of alcohol and fixed-price purchase contracts to purchase $1,517,000 of alcohol from its suppliers. The Company had fixed-price purchase contracts to purchase $23,996,000 of corn from its suppliers as of September 30, 2024. The Company had indexed-price purchase contracts for natural gas totaling 5,592,000 MMBTU as of September 30, 2024. The Company also had future commitments for certain capital projects totaling $8,616,000. These purchase commitments are scheduled to be satisfied throughout 2024 and 2025.

Litigation – General – The Company is subject to various claims and contingencies in the ordinary course of its business, including those related to litigation, business transactions, employee-related matters, environmental regulations, and others. When the Company is aware of a claim or potential claim, it assesses the likelihood of any loss or exposure. If it is probable that a loss will result and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated, the Company will record a liability for the loss. If the loss is not probable or the amount of the loss cannot be reasonably estimated, the Company discloses the claim if the likelihood of a potential loss is reasonably possible and the amount involved could be material. While the Company can provide no assurances, the Company does not expect that any of its pending legal proceedings will have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.

The Company sponsors a defined benefit pension plan (the “Retirement Plan”) and a healthcare and life insurance plan (the “Postretirement Plan”).

The Retirement Plan is noncontributory and covers only “grandfathered” unionized employees at the Company’s Pekin, Illinois facility who fulfill minimum age and service requirements. Benefits are based on a prescribed formula based upon the employee’s years of service. The Retirement Plan, which is part of a collective bargaining agreement, covers only union employees hired prior to November 1, 2010.

The Company uses a December 31 measurement date for its Retirement Plan. The Company’s funding policy is to make the minimum annual contribution required by applicable regulations. As of December 31, 2023, the Retirement Plan’s accumulated projected benefit obligation was $18.6 million, with a fair value of plan assets of $18.5 million. The underfunded amount of $0.1 million is recorded on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet in other liabilities.

For the three months ended September 30, 2024, the Retirement Plan’s net periodic expense was $13,000, comprised of $222,000 in interest cost and $67,000 in service cost, partially offset by $276,000 of expected return on plan assets. For the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Retirement Plan’s net periodic expense was $39,000, comprised of $666,000 in interest cost and $201,000 in service cost, partially offset by $828,000 of expected return on plan assets. For the three months ended September 30, 2023, the Retirement Plan’s net periodic expense was $39,000, comprised of $225,000 in interest cost and $62,000 in service cost, partially offset by $248,000 of expected return on plan assets. For the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Retirement Plan’s net periodic expense was $117,000, comprised of $675,000 in interest cost and $186,000 in service cost, partially offset by $744,000 of expected return on plan assets.

The Postretirement Plan provides postretirement medical benefits and life insurance to certain “grandfathered” unionized employees at the Company’s Pekin, Illinois facility. Employees hired after December 31, 2000 are not eligible to participate in the Postretirement Plan. The Postretirement Plan is contributory, with contributions required at the same rate as active employees. Benefit eligibility under the plan reduces at age 65 from a defined benefit to a defined dollar cap based upon years of service. As of December 31, 2023, the Postretirement Plan’s accumulated projected benefit obligation was $4.3 million and is recorded on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet in other liabilities. The Company’s funding policy is to make the minimum annual contribution required by applicable regulations.

For the three months ended September 30, 2024, the Postretirement Plan’s net periodic expense was $54,000, comprised of $49,000 in interest cost and $5,000 in service cost. For the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Postretirement Plan’s net periodic expense was $162,000, comprised of $147,000 in interest cost and $15,000 in service cost. For the three months ended September 30, 2023, the Postretirement Plan’s net periodic expense was $36,000, comprised of $46,000 of interest cost and $3,000 of service cost, partially offset by $13,000 in amortization of gains. For the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Postretirement Plan’s net periodic expense was $108,000, comprised of $138,000 of interest cost and $9,000 of service cost, partially offset by $39,000 in amortization of gains.

The fair value hierarchy prioritizes the inputs used in valuation techniques into three levels, as follows:

Pooled separate accounts – Pooled separate accounts invest primarily in domestic and international stocks, commercial paper or single mutual funds. The net asset value is used as a practical expedient to determine fair value for these accounts. Each pooled separate account provides for redemptions by the Retirement Plan at reported net asset values per share, with little to no advance notice requirement, therefore these funds are classified within Level 2 of the valuation hierarchy.

Other Derivative Instruments – The Company’s other derivative instruments consist of commodity positions. The fair values of the commodity positions are based on quoted prices on the commodity exchanges and are designated as Level 1 inputs.

The following table summarizes recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements by level at September 30, 2024 (in thousands):

The following table summarizes recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements by level at December 31, 2023 (in thousands):

The following tables compute basic and diluted earnings per share (in thousands, except per share data):

There were an additional aggregate potentially dilutive weighted-average shares of 981,000 from convertible securities outstanding for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and September 30, 2023. These securities were not considered in calculating diluted net income (loss) per share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, as their effect would have been anti-dilutive.

On November 5, 2024, the Company entered into a CO₂ Transportation and Sequestration Agreement (“TSA”) with Vault 44.01 to provide transportation, injection and sequestration into the Mt. Simon sandstone formation in Illinois of CO₂ produced at the Company’s Pekin Campus. Under the TSA, Vault 44.01 will also manage the EPA permit approval process from submission to ultimate approval.

ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes to consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report. This report and our consolidated financial statements and notes to consolidated financial statements contain forward-looking statements, which generally include the plans and objectives of management for future operations, including plans and objectives relating to our future economic performance and our current beliefs regarding revenues we might generate and profits we might earn if we are successful in implementing our business and growth strategies. The forward-looking statements and associated risks may include, relate to or be qualified by other important factors, including:

You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this report, or in the case of a document incorporated by reference, as of the date of that document. We do not undertake to update, revise or correct any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Any of the factors described immediately above or referenced from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission or in the “Risk Factors” section below could cause our financial results, including our net income or loss or growth in net income or loss to differ materially from prior results, which in turn could, among other things, cause the price of our common stock to fluctuate substantially.

Overview

We produce and distribute renewable fuel and essential ingredients. We are also the largest producer of specialty alcohols in the United States.

We operate five alcohol production facilities. Three of our production facilities are located in Illinois, one is located in Oregon and another is located in Idaho. We have an annual alcohol production capacity of up to 350 million gallons, including both renewable fuel and specialty alcohols ranging from industrial-, pharmaceutical-, and high-quality food- and beverage-grade alcohols. Of this amount, we are able to produce up to 110 million gallons annually of specialty alcohols, depending on our product mix among the highest quality beverage-grade alcohol and alcohols of other quality specifications. We market and distribute all of the alcohols produced at our facilities as well as alcohols produced by third parties. In 2023, we marketed and distributed approximately 383 million gallons combined of our own alcohols as well as fuel-grade ethanol produced by third parties, and over 1.5 million tons of essential ingredients on a dry matter basis.

We also specialize in break bulk distribution of specialty alcohols, through our Eagle Alcohol subsidiary, produced by us and third-parties. We then store, denature, package, and resell alcohol products in smaller sizes, including tank trucks, totes and drums that typically garner a premium price to bulk alcohols. We deliver products to customers in the beverage, food, industrial and related-process industries via our own dedicated trucking fleet and common carrier.

We report our financial and operating performance in three segments: (1) Pekin campus production, which includes the production and sale of alcohols and essential ingredients produced at our three production facilities located in Pekin, Illinois, which we refer to as our Pekin Campus, (2) marketing and distribution, which includes marketing and merchant trading for company-produced alcohols and essential ingredients on an aggregated basis, and sales of fuel-grade ethanol sourced from third parties, and (3) Western production, which includes the production and sale of renewable fuel and essential ingredients produced at our two western production facilities on an aggregated basis, none of which are individually so significant as to be considered a separately reportable segment.

Our mission is to produce the highest quality, sustainable ingredients from renewable resources that make everyday products better. We intend to accomplish this goal in part by investing in our specialized and higher value specialty alcohol production and distribution infrastructure, expanding production in high-demand essential ingredients, expanding and extending the sale of our products into new regional and international markets, building efficiencies and economies of scale and by capturing a greater portion of the value stream.

Production Segments

We produce specialty alcohols, renewable fuel and essential ingredients, focusing on five key markets: Health, Home & Beauty; Food & Beverage; Industry & Agriculture; Essential Ingredients; and Renewable Fuels. Products for the Health, Home & Beauty markets include specialty alcohols used in mouthwash, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, hand sanitizers, disinfectants and cleaners. Products for the Food & Beverage markets include grain neutral spirits used in alcoholic beverages and vinegar as well as corn germ used for corn oils. Products for Industry & Agriculture markets include alcohols and other products for paint applications and fertilizers. Products for Essential Ingredients markets include dried yeast, corn protein meal, corn protein feed, corn germ, and distillers grains and liquid feed used in commercial animal feed and pet foods. We also sell yeast for human consumption. Our products for the Renewable Fuels markets include fuel-grade ethanol and distillers corn oil used as a feedstock for renewable diesel and biodiesel fuels.

We produce our alcohols and essential ingredients at our production facilities. Our production facilities located in Illinois are in the heart of the Corn Belt, benefit from relatively low-cost and abundant feedstock and enjoy logistical advantages that enable us to provide our products to both domestic and international markets via truck, rail or barge. Our production facilities located in Oregon and Idaho are near their respective fuel and feed customers, offering significant timing, transportation cost and logistical advantages.

All of our production facilities are currently operating. However, unless there are meaningful improvements in overall economics at our Magic Valley facility, we plan to idle the plant before the end of 2024, which we believe will have a positive impact on our financial results. In January 2024, we temporarily hot-idled our Magic Valley facility to minimize losses from negative regional crush margins and to expedite the installation of additional equipment needed to achieve the intended production rate, quality and consistency from the corn oil and high protein system at the facility. We restarted our Magic Valley facility in July 2024. As market conditions change, we may increase, decrease or idle production at one or more operating facilities or resume operations at any idled facility.

Marketing and Distribution Segment

We market and distribute all of the alcohols and essential ingredients we produce at our facilities. We also market and distribute alcohols produced by third parties.

We have extensive and long-standing customer relationships, both domestic and international, for our specialty alcohols and essential ingredients. These customers include producers and distributors of ingredients for cosmetics, sanitizers and related products, distilled spirits producers, food products manufacturers, producers of personal health/consumer health and personal care hygiene products, and global trading firms.

Our renewable fuel customers are located throughout the Western and Midwestern United States and consist of integrated oil companies and gasoline marketers who blend fuel-grade ethanol into gasoline. Our customers depend on us to provide a reliable supply of fuel-grade ethanol and manage the logistics and timing of delivery. Our customers collectively require fuel-grade ethanol volumes in excess of the supplies we produce at our facilities. We secure additional fuel-grade ethanol supplies from third-party ethanol producers. We arrange for transportation, storage and delivery of fuel-grade ethanol purchased by our customers through our agreements with third-party service providers in the Western United States as well as in the Midwest from a variety of sources.

We market food-grade essential ingredients to human and pet food markets, our feed products such as distillers grains primarily to export markets from our Pekin Campus, and other feed products to dairies and feedlots, in many cases located near our production facilities. These customers use our feed products for livestock as a substitute for corn and other sources of starch and protein. We sell our corn oil to poultry, renewable diesel and biodiesel customers. We do not market essential ingredients from other producers.

See “Note 2 – Segments” to our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this report for financial information about our business segments.

Current Initiatives and Outlook

In early November, we took a significant step forward in our commitment to sustainability by finalizing a definitive CO₂ Transportation and Sequestration Agreement with Vault 44.01 for our carbon capture and storage project, or CCS. Under the terms of the agreement, Vault will handle the transportation, injection and sequestration of CO₂ from our Pekin Campus to the Mt. Simon sandstone formation in Illinois. This partnership marks a critical milestone on our journey toward a more sustainable and prosperous future. While we await EPA submission and approval, address financing and source equipment, this agreement brings us closer to achieving our goals of lowering our carbon footprint and monetizing the value of the biogenic CO₂ we produce at our Pekin Campus.

In the third quarter of 2024, we improved our consolidated gross profit to $6.0 million and improved our Adjusted EBITDA to $12.2 million, including $3.6 million in realized gains on derivatives for the quarter. These results were primarily driven by an increase in our production capabilities and uptime at our Pekin Campus, increasing its profitability despite fluctuating market conditions, compared to the third quarter of 2023. These results compare to $13.6 million of Adjusted EBITDA for the same period in 2023, including $6.2 million in realized gains on derivatives and a cash grant of $2.8 million from the USDA’s Biofuel Producer Program.

The third quarter began with solid ethanol crush margins supported by strong exports. Domestic demand began to weaken as weather-related events reduced miles driven. Ethanol production remained relatively high, outpacing demand and resulting in higher ethanol inventory levels and lower market prices. In addition, in the third quarter, carbon prices were approximately 80% lower in Oregon and Washington and 20% lower in California compared to the third quarter of 2023. Although carbon prices remained low in October, we have begun to see some price recovery.

We increased productivity at our Pekin Campus wet mill to its highest level since 2020, reflecting in part the results of our successful biennial repairs and maintenance outage in April 2024. This translated into higher specialty alcohol production in the third quarter of 2024, reaching 42% of total sales volume at our Pekin Campus, seven percentage points higher than for the same period last year. We remain on track to sell 90 million gallons of specialty alcohols in 2024 and expect to match this volume in 2025.

For the fourth quarter, we expect corn prices to remain low, reflecting a good 2024 harvest, which we anticipate will result in a strong supply carryout and attractive prices into 2025. However, with domestic corn prices lower than international prices, demand for United States corn exports will likely increase, straining logistics and driving up transportation costs. Moreover, when domestic corn prices are low, suppliers typically require that prices cover at least their costs, driving up corn basis. This dynamic is one reason we expanded our corn storage capacity at our Pekin Campus and are considering a further increase in storage capacity at the site.

While higher corn transportation costs impact all ethanol producers, they have a more substantial impact on our Western operations, for which we source corn supplies from the Midwest, compared to Midwest ethanol producers that have access to local corn supplies and cheaper corn basis.

At our Magic Valley plant, we completed upgrades to Harvesting Technology’s system to capture high protein and corn oil products and restarted the plant in July to prove out the system and benefit from the positive crush margins at the time. In October, the Magic Valley facility consistently achieved average ethanol production rates at full capacity, the protein content yield from the plant reached 50% or greater, and we were able to expand our corn oil yields. This successful restart and operation has informed us of the technology system’s capabilities as we consider system deployment at our other dry mills. Unfortunately, recent increases in regional corn basis and declining market prices for protein and corn oil have resulted in overall margin compression, outweighing the economic benefits of our plant improvements. We will continue to explore operational opportunities and assess market trends, but unless there are meaningful improvements in overall economics at the facility, we plan to idle the plant before the end of 2024, which we believe will have a positive impact on our financial results.

To address these challenges, we continue to pursue opportunities to maximize the Western plants’ strengths and advantages. We have engaged Guggenheim Securities to actively explore our alternatives to monetize or optimize these assets, including through potential partnerships.

Notably, while our Columbia facility is also experiencing margin compression, the combination of lower transportation costs, premiums earned on low-carbon ethanol and revenues generated from the sale of CO₂ make the plant more economically resilient than our Magic Valley facility.

We continue to modernize our equipment and facilities to improve reliability, lower our operating costs and reduce our carbon footprint. For example, we are currently building a second alcohol loading dock at our Pekin Campus. Our goal for the project is to improve our river logistics by expediting the shipping process, adding redundancy and expanding our capabilities to accommodate a wider array of barges. We expect this project will yield a synergistic effect with our existing facilities and increase overall loading efficiencies. Our anticipated project cost is $3.0 million. The project is scheduled for completion in 2025.

Sustainability

We recently completed our sustainability report for 2023 and increased our disclosures on topics such as environmental, health, safety, quality and social metrics. Our core values of responsibility, integrity and quality drive our mission to produce the highest quality, sustainable ingredients that make everyday products better. We proudly offer 100% bio-based renewable products from our specialty alcohols and essential ingredients to renewable fuels and plant-based proteins. At our highly efficient dry grind facilities, we are striving for carbon intensity scores below 50 by optimizing efficiency, upgrading energy infrastructure and selecting sustainable feedstocks. Our dedication to sustainability and social responsibility extends to our customers, employees, investors, partners, suppliers and consumers, as well as our focus on product quality and safety.

We conducted materiality assessments with internal and external stakeholders and identified multiple long-term market opportunities to viably expand our bio-based renewable offerings. The third-party certifications we earned include such areas as oversight on risk management; chemical storage, handling, transportation and disposal; multiple food safety initiatives; quality management; good manufacturing practices and requirements for all active pharmaceutical ingredients and excipient products; and supply chains for waste streams.

Derivatives

We employ a variety of risk management strategies to mitigate the price volatility of different commodities throughout the year as a normal course of business. These strategies may include managing the spread between corn and ethanol prices, otherwise known as the crush margin. We may also take positions on corn and natural gas. Currently, our core strategy is to hedge the premium over fuel grade ethanol of our specialty alcohol contracts that have fixed sales prices of up to one year or longer. Using derivatives, we lock-in certain premiums for the duration of the specialty alcohol contract over production that otherwise would be sold as ethanol. For positions that settle, we record the cumulative unrealized gains or losses on those positions since inception to realized. On the remaining unsettled positions, the change in market values measured at the end of the reporting period is reflected as unrealized. Unrealized amounts are not determinate of amounts that will be realized in future periods. However, we believe that the most accurate method to assess the value or obligation to be realized in the future, measured as of a specific date, is to note the amounts on our balance sheet. The net derivative asset or liability amount on the balance sheet denotes the amount that  we would realize if we liquidated all of our positions as of that specific period-end date.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Management believes that certain financial measures not in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, are useful measures of operations. Management provides EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA as non-GAAP financial measures so that investors will have the same financial information that management uses, which may assist investors in properly assessing our performance on a period-over-period basis.

We define EBITDA as unaudited consolidated net income (loss) before interest expense, interest income, provision for income taxes and depreciation and amortization expense. We define Adjusted EBITDA as unaudited consolidated net income (loss) before interest expense, interest income, unrealized derivative gains and losses, acquisition-related expense, asset impairments, provision for income taxes and depreciation and amortization expense.

A table is provided below to reconcile Adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable GAAP measure, consolidated net income (loss). EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not measures of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to consolidated net income (loss) or any other measure of performance under GAAP, or to cash flows from operating, investing or financing activities as an indicator of cash flows or as a measure of liquidity. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools and you should not consider these measures in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP.

Information reconciling forward-looking EBITDA or Adjusted EBITDA to forward-looking consolidated net income (loss) would require a forward-looking statement of consolidated net income (loss) prepared in accordance with GAAP, which is unavailable to us without unreasonable effort. We are not able to provide a quantitative reconciliation of forward-looking EBITDA or Adjusted EBITDA to forward-looking consolidated net income (loss) because certain items required for reconciliation are uncertain, outside of our control and/or cannot reasonably be predicted, such as net sales, cost of goods sold, unrealized derivative gains and losses, asset impairments and provision (benefit) for income taxes, which we view as the most material components of consolidated net income (loss) that are not presently estimable.

Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Consolidated Net Loss

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of net sales and expenses for each period. We believe that of our significant accounting policies, the following critical accounting policies and estimates are those policies that we believe are the most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and that require management’s most difficult, subjective or complex judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates about the effects of matters that are inherently uncertain: accounting for business combinations; revenue recognition; impairment of long-lived assets and held-for-sale classification; valuation allowance for deferred taxes and derivative instruments. Except as noted below, these significant accounting principles are more fully described in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Results of Operations

Selected Financial Information

The following selected financial information should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report, and the other sections of “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” contained in this report.

Certain performance metrics that we believe are important indicators of our results of operations include the following: