U.S. ethanol facility closed after explosion; two injured

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Poet Llc ethanol plant in Minnesota was shut down following a Sunday morning blast that injured two people, according to the U.S. biofuels producer.

The Glenville facility was closed for investigation into a fire and explosion that occurred on Sunday just after 3 a.m. (0800 GMT), plant General Manager Steve McNinch said in an emailed statement.

There is no timeline yet for restarting the plant, which produces about 45 million gallons of ethanol annually, a Poet spokesman told Reuters on Monday.

Two employees were injured and taken to the hospital, McNinch said.

Chicago Board of Trade ethanol futures were up 1.1 percent at $1.492 a gallon by 10:45 a.m. EDT (1445 GMT).

The shutdown was not expected to have an immediate impact on prices as the plant is relatively small and ethanol stocks are high, according to traders.

U.S. ethanol inventories total over 20.7 million barrels, or 870 million gallons, near the three-year highs touched earlier this year.

Poet is one of the United States' biggest ethanol producers. The privately based, Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based company has four plants in Minnesota alone.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)