Greetings, and welcome to the REX American Resources fiscal 2022 first quarter conference call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterwards, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. At that time, if you have a question, please press 1 followed by the pound key on your telephone. If at any time during the conference you need to reach an operator, please press star 0. I would now like to turn the call over to Doug Bruggeman, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.
Good morning, and thank you for joining the REX American Resources fiscal 2022 first quarter conference call. We will get to our presentation and comments momentarily, followed by the question-and-answer session. First, I will review the Safe Harbor disclosure.
am joined on the call today by Stuart Rose, Executive Chairman of the Board, and Zafar Rizvi, Chief Executive Officer. I will first review our financial performance and then turn the call over to Stuart for his comments. Sales for the first quarter increased by 18% as we experienced higher pricing for ethanol, distillers grains, and corn oil.
Ethanol pricing improved by 27%, dried distillers grains improved by 5%, and corn oil pricing improved by 91% for this year's quarter over the prior year's first quarter. Corn costs increased by 27%, and natural gas pricing increased by 86% for this year's quarter compared again to the prior year first quarter, as inflationary pressures and the impact on commodity pricing from the Ukraine-Russia conflict continued.
We had income of $2 million from our unconsolidated equity investments in this year's first quarter, versus $570,000 in the prior year. The discontinued operations reflected in the prior year numbers are from the refined coal business, as we ended those operations on November 18, 2021. There was no impact in the current year.
Stuart, I'll turn the call over to you.
Thank you, Doug. Going forward, the ethanol operations for the current quarter are currently running significantly ahead of last year's corresponding quarter. We will be helped by a one-time government payment related to COVID-19 relief and some improvement in ethanol profits quarter-to-date. Zafar Rizvi, our CEO, will discuss this further.
We are also working very hard on a carbon capture project. Zafar Rizvi will discuss this in his segment as well. We are looking at compatible industries that currently emit large amounts of carbon. Nothing is imminent, but if we found an opportunity where we could make an industry less carbon-intensive using our carbon capture holes, that would be something we would consider.
Thank you, Stuart. I will be very brief. As I mentioned in our previous quarterly call, the operating environment at the beginning of the first quarter of 2022 was very challenging. Since then, we have seen some improvements, but it continues to be a challenge for a number of reasons: an increase in ethanol production, logistics problems, an increase in the price of corn greater than the ethanol price, and the high price of natural gas.
On May 23, 2022, the company received $7.8 million as part of the COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress in December 2020. In June 2021, the USDA announced the $700 million Biofuel Producer Program to distribute these funds to impacted producers of ethanol, biodiesel, and other renewable fuels.
As I mentioned in a previous call, we are working with the University of Illinois on drilling a carbon sequestration well. The first test well at One Earth Energy was successfully drilled to a total depth of around 7,100 feet, in which almost 2,000 feet of Mount Simon Sandstone was encountered.
he simulation model results are currently at a preliminary stage, and more work is required. However, the data indicates that all the CO2 produced by the One Earth Energy facility—and more—can be injected and stored at the potential sequestration site.
As I mentioned in a previous call, almost 16,000 nodes were placed at different points, and 116 million points of data were collected. This data is still being analyzed. I want to reiterate that this project is still in a very preliminary stage. It requires extensive modeling and analysis.
In conclusion, we made money in a quarter when most public companies in the industry reported a loss. We are a well-run ethanol company that consistently makes money and has great hopes for the future in carbon capture. We feel our carbon capture project is far more advanced than almost everyone else attempting to enter this industry.
It is good plants and good locations.However, the biggest factor that separates us from the rest of the industry—and why we have consistently outperformed most other public companies—is our people. We believe we have the finest people in the industry, and that is why we continue to outperform. I will now open the floor to questions.
Thank you. If you would like to register a question, please press 1 followed by 4 on your telephone. You will hear a three-tone prompt to acknowledge your request.
If your question has been answered and you would like to withdraw, please press 1 followed by 3. One moment, please, for the first question. Our first question is from Jordan Levy with Truist Securities. Please proceed.
Morning all.
Hi, Jordan.
A nice quarter this morning against a clearly challenging backdrop; that is a testament to how you have continued to run the company. Great job there. I will start on the carbon capture side for either Stuart or Zafar.
I am curious how you frame that potential.
I will take that first, then I will give it to Zafar. I believe the most important thing is to have the capacity—the "carbon hole"—and that is what we are working on most. There are many ethanol plants, ammonia plants, and electric utilities emitting carbon.
We think having the hole is the most important thing. While Zafar is doing that, we are looking at different industries that emit significant carbon. We hope to have a large carbon capture facility used to lower the carbon footprint for our area and the entire country. That is our goal. I will turn it over to Zafar if he wants to add to that.
You are exactly right; the well is the most important factor. If you do not have the well, you can have the carbon, but you will not be able to perform sequestration. To obtain an EPA Class VI permit, it takes approximately 6 to 18 months after you apply.
As Stuart mentioned, we will look at future opportunities if there is more carbon from other locations or our own potential future business. We can store that carbon in the same place. Most importantly, we are located at the Mount Simon Sandstone, which is the best location in the Illinois area. We think it is the right place to operate independently at this time.
That is great color. Maybe a follow-up on the corn oil side of things. We have seen significant price increases in that product, likely driven by the renewable diesel sector and the relationship with grain prices. I am curious about the demand you are seeing compared to what you have seen historically.
We have seen significant corn oil demand at this time; we receive calls almost every day or every week. There is higher demand, and that is the reason the corn oil price is consistently rising.
When you look at all of these situations and DDGS (Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles), we have lately seen the price of DDGS go down compared to before, even a few weeks ago.
Great. I'll leave it there. Thanks so much for all the details.
Our next question comes from Pavel Molchanov with Raymond James. Please proceed.
Thanks for taking the question. It has been a little while since I have been on one of your calls. I think this is your first call since the war began. How has the war affected the ethanol market from a top-line perspective, a cost of goods perspective, or both?
If you look at recent trends, the corn price has increased because Ukraine produces approximately 1.3 billion bushels a year and exports almost 1 billion bushels annually. They are not able to export as much as they could previously. On the other hand, other top exporters like Argentina and Brazil are taking over, exporting more than the United States.
The USDA recently announced that the corn production forecast is down, primarily due to Ukraine and the USA. We have seen weaknesses in China and the European Union.
I appreciate the perspective on that. Let me zoom in on the EPA allowing higher blending levels this summer. How do you anticipate that having an impact in practical terms in the United States?
We do not think it makes much difference at all; it is "peanuts" overall. Most gas stations in the East or the West do not even offer E15. Because they did not do it on a permanent basis, there is no incentive to install E15 infrastructure across the country.
The significant help we received, for which we are grateful, was that USDA payment. That is real money that counts. Zafar, would you like to add to that?
You are exactly right. Unless the EPA allows year-round sales, no one is willing to invest for eight or nine months, only to shut down their pumps and start over. This uncertainty creates a problem. The Biden administration should allow E15 to be sold year-round, just like any other fuel grade. That is the only way to significantly increase ethanol demand; otherwise, this will continue to be a problem.
One last question. What is the latest on exports to China? That has been a recurring conversation for about four years now.
Export levels to China are still not where we expect them to be. Based on the March data, we have not seen any significant exports to China. The U.S. government must work to lift these tariffs. The Biden administration has mentioned lifting tariffs on certain Chinese imports to combat inflation.
That is one reason for the inflation we are facing; imports from China and other countries were cheaper before tariffs made them more expensive.
Right. I thank you very much.
Thank you, Pavel.
Mr. Rose, there are no further questions at this time. I will turn the call back to you for closing remarks.
Thank you very much. We would like to thank everyone for listening, and we look forward to talking to you again at the end of next quarter. Thank you. Goodbye.
Bye-bye.
That concludes the conference. We thank you for your participation. Please disconnect your lines.