Ethanol production hits four week high

In Washington, D.C., ethanol production averaged 1.062 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 44.60 million gallons daily, according to government data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association. That is up 1,000 b/d from the week before and a 4-week high. The four-week average for ethanol production decreased to 1.038 million b/d for an annualized rate of 15.91 billion gallons. Stocks of ethanol increased 4.8% from last week to a new record high of 23.8 million barrels – 10% higher than year-ago levels. There were zero imports recorded for the seventh week in a row.

Average weekly gasoline demand increased 0.3% to 365.3 million gallons (8.679 million barrels) daily. This is equivalent to 133.3billion gallons annualized. However, refiner/blender input of ethanol decreased 3.5% to 826,000 b/d, equivalent to 12.66 billion gallons annualized. This is the second-weakest weekly demand in over a year. The ethanol content in gasoline supplied to the market averaged 9.50%, down from 9.88% the prior week. Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production decreased slightly to 12.21%.