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VeraSun Energy Corp. recently suspended construction of a 110 million-gallon-capacity ethanol plant in Reynolds, Ind., because of plummeting ethanol prices — perhaps a sign that the explosive ethanol and biofuels market railroads have been mining to boost traffic is losing some spark.

Construction began in summer on the plant, which will be served by CSX Transportation and the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway. The facility had been scheduled to open in fourth-quarter 2008, but VeraSun Energy now plans to resume construction sometime next year pending a "return to more favorable market conditions," the company said.

"We have seen ethanol prices drop nearly 50 cents per gallon in the last 60 days, [so] it is prudent for us to adjust our current pace of expansion," said VeraSun Energy Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President Danny Herron in a prepared statement.

The company decided not to suspend construction of new ethanol plants in Hartley, Iowa; Welcome, Minn.; Albion, Neb.; and Bloomingburg, Ohio.