REX American Resources Corporation (‘REX’), through its subsidiaries, produces and sells ethanol in the United States.
The company is invested in three ethanol production entities – One Earth Energy, LLC (‘One Earth’), NuGen Energy, LLC (‘NuGen’), and Big River Resources, LLC (‘Big River’). The company owns a majority interest in One Earth and NuGen. It also owns a majority interest in an entity that owned and, until November 18, 2021, operated a refined coal facility; as the company has ceased...
REX American Resources Corporation (‘REX’), through its subsidiaries, produces and sells ethanol in the United States.
The company is invested in three ethanol production entities – One Earth Energy, LLC (‘One Earth’), NuGen Energy, LLC (‘NuGen’), and Big River Resources, LLC (‘Big River’). The company owns a majority interest in One Earth and NuGen. It also owns a majority interest in an entity that owned and, until November 18, 2021, operated a refined coal facility; as the company has ceased operating the refined coal facility, it began classifying the financial results of the operating segment as discontinued operations. The federal production tax credits received through operation of this facility remain under IRS audit. The company now has one reportable segment, ethanol and by-products.
The form and structure of the company’s ethanol investments are tailored to the specific needs and goals of each project and the local farmer group or investor with whom it partners. The company had equity investments in three entities engaged in the production of ethanol as of January 31, 2025.
The three entities own a total of six ethanol production facilities, which, in aggregate, shipped approximately 727 million gallons of ethanol over the twelve-month period ended January 31, 2025. REX’s effective ownership of ethanol gallons shipped for the twelve-month period ended January 31, 2025, was approximately 294 million gallons.
One Earth Sequestration, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of One Earth Energy, LLC, is in the developmental stage of a carbon sequestration project near the One Earth Energy ethanol plant. A test well has been drilled to a total depth of approximately 7,100 feet, in which was encountered almost 2,000 feet of Mt. Simon Sandstone, which is the geological formation that is the region’s primary carbon storage resource. Three-dimensional seismic testing has been performed, as well as geological modeling for predicting the movement of injected carbon and the plume area to determine maximum injection pressure, reservoir quality, and storage capacity for the potential wells. In October 2022, the company applied for a Class VI injection well permit for three wells with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (‘EPA’), and it continues to provide information to the EPA during the technical review of its application upon request. The company expects the EPA to prepare a draft permit by the second quarter of 2025 and make a final permit decision by late in the third quarter of 2025, according to the EPA’s Class VI Permit Tracker Dashboard on their website. The company has now secured sufficient subsurface easements for the proposed first injection well to allow for sequestration of all the carbon emissions from the One Earth Energy ethanol plant for a minimum of 15 years. It also needs to obtain a county special-use zoning permit for the sequestration site. In 2022, the company began construction of a facility to capture, dehydrate, and compress carbon dioxide from the One Earth Energy ethanol plant to a state suitable for sequestration.
In October 2023, the company submitted an application to the Illinois Commerce Commission (‘ICC’) for a certificate of authority under the state’s Carbon Dioxide Transportation and Sequestration Act (the ‘CO2 Act’) to build a short pipeline to deliver carbon dioxide from the One Earth Energy ethanol plant to the proposed sequestration site. The company has obtained easements from all of the necessary landowners for the use of their land for the pipeline for the first two wells. On May 26, 2024, however, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Safety and Aid for the Environment in Carbon Capture and Sequestration Act (Senate Bill 1289), which was signed by the governor in July 2024. The new legislation imposes additional safety, environmental, and other requirements on obtaining permits and approvals for carbon capture and sequestration facilities in Illinois, including CO2 pipelines. Further, the new legislation imposes a moratorium on the issuance of new certificates of authority for the construction of CO2 pipelines until the earlier of the date federal CO2 pipeline safety standards are finalized by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) or, subject to certain other conditions, July 1, 2026. As a result of this legislation, the ICC dismissed the company’s application without prejudice, and it will be required to resubmit an application after rules are finalized or subsequent to July 1, 2026.
Finally, the company continues to work to identify ways to reduce its carbon intensity (‘CI’) score at the One Earth plant with the intention of maximizing tax credits available under the Inflation Reduction Act (‘IRA’).
In May 2023, NuGen Energy, LLC, the company’s majority-owned ethanol plant in Marion, South Dakota, signed an agreement to be part of Summit Carbon Solutions’ carbon capture and storage pipeline network, with storage planned to be in North Dakota. Should Summit Carbon Solutions be able to obtain all necessary permits and approvals, the agreement would allow NuGen to share in the economic benefits of tax credits through the sale of the carbon dioxide output of its ethanol production facility for sequestration, as well as reduce its net carbon emissions. In March 2025, South Dakota signed a bill into law that bans the use of eminent domain in connection with carbon dioxide pipelines.
Facilities
As of the company’s fiscal year end, its consolidated ethanol entities owned a combined 1,591 acres of land and two facilities that shipped a combined quantity of approximately 290 million gallons of ethanol in fiscal year 2024 (period February 1, 2024, to January 31, 2025).
Service Marks
The company has registered the service marks ‘REX’ and ‘Farmer’s Energy’ with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
History
The company was founded in 1980. It was incorporated in Delaware in 1984. It was formerly known as REX Stores Corporation and changed its name to REX American Resources Corporation in 2010.