Ethanol producers are cutting output after getting squeezed by the biggest drop in gasoline prices since 2008. Valero Energy Corp. and Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc., representing about 15 percent of U.S. capacity, have reduced operations as margins narrowed. At a typical mill in Illinois that makes ethanol from corn, profit margins have almost totally disappeared, compared with $1.33 a gallon a year ago, according to AgTrader Talk, a Clive, Iowa-based consulting company. Gasoline and crude fell more than 50 percent from their peaks in June as the U.S. shale boom helped global oil production outpace demand. While that was good for consumers, saving each American household $750, it […]