Ethanol production hits lowest volume in almost a year

In Washington, D.C., the Renewable Fuels Association reports that according to EIA data, average ethanol production contracted by 4.3% to 967,000 barrels per day (b/d)—or 40.61 million gallons daily. That is down 43,000 b/d from the week before, representing the smallest volume in 51 weeks. The four-week average for ethanol production decreased to a 21-week low of 1.001 million b/d, yielding an annualized rate of 15.35 billion gallons. Stocks of ethanol remained at 21.5 million barrels for the second straight week. Imports of ethanol remained flat at zero b/d for the fourth week in a row.

Average weekly gasoline demand increased 2.6% to 398.2 million gallons (9.480 million barrels) daily. This is equivalent to 145.3 billion gallons annualized. Refiner/blender input of ethanol increased 0.8% to 937,000 b/d, equivalent to 14.36 billion gallons annualized. Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production decreased to 10.20%.