Ethanol Side Effects: Part 3

Coca-Cola Enterprises - the large bottler of Coke - cited rising corn syrup costs as one reason for a $1.71 billion loss in the 4th quarter of 2006. The company announced last week that it plans to cut about 3,500 jobs, or 5% of its global work force, after taking a $2.9 billion impairment charge in 2006.

“There has been a fundamental change in the sweetener market driven by corn, ultimately driven by the corn used in ethanol,” the chief financial officer, Bill Douglas, said in a conference call to analysts last week. Sweetener costs will rise at least 20%."

The other cost increase noted in the release was higher aluminum prices, which translates into an increase in the cost of cans. China's demand for aluminum has pushed up the price for that metal, company officials stated.

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