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RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES
6 Months Ended
Apr. 30, 2020
RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES  
RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

2.   RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

 

The Company has certain risks and uncertainties that it experiences during volatile market conditions. These volatilities can have a severe impact on operations. The Company's revenues are derived from the sale and distribution of ethanol, distillers' grains, corn oil, and natural gas to customers primarily located in the United States. Corn for the production process is supplied to our plant primarily from local agricultural producers and from purchases on the open market.

 

The Company's operating and financial performance is largely driven by the prices at which they sell ethanol and the net expense of corn. The price of ethanol is influenced by factors such as supply and demand, the weather, government policies and programs, and unleaded gasoline prices and the petroleum markets as a whole. Excess ethanol supply in the market, in particular, puts downward pressure on the price of ethanol. The Company’s largest cost of production is corn. The cost of corn is generally impacted by factors such as supply and demand, the weather, government policies and programs, and a risk management program used to protect against the price volatility of these commodities. Market fluctuations in the price of and demand for these products may have a significant adverse effect on the Company’s operations, profitability and the availability and adequacy of cash flow to meet the Company’s working capital requirements. The Company’s risk management program is used to protect against the price volatility of these commodities.

 

The Company, and the ethanol industry as a whole, experienced significant adverse conditions throughout most of 2018 and 2019, and thus far into 2020, as a result of industry-wide record low ethanol prices due to reduced demand and high industry inventory levels. These factors, which are compounded by the recent impact of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), resulted and continue to result in negative operating margins, lower cash flow from operations and net operating losses, which included write downs of inventory and impairment of corn forward purchase contracts of approximately $179,000 for the six months ended April 30, 2020. In response to the low margin environment, GFE idled its ethanol production from on or about April 3, 2020 through approximately May 18, 2020. The Company continues to monitor COVID-19 developments in order to determine whether further adjustments to production are warranted. The Company believes its cash on hand, available debt from its lender, and additional debt with its current lender will provide sufficient liquidity to meets its anticipated working capital, debt service and other liquidity needs through the next twelve months. If market conditions worsen affecting our ability to profitably operate the plant or if we are unable to transport ethanol, we may be forced to further idle ethanol production altogether.