Ethanol production down from week before

In Washington, DC, ethanol production averaged 1.034 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 43.43 million gallons daily, according to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association. That is down 3,000 b/d from the week before and the third reduction in a row. Yet, the four-week average for ethanol production increased slightly to 1.040 million b/d for an annualized rate of 15.94 billion gallons. Stocks of ethanol fell to a 21-week low of 21.8 million barrels. That is a 2.7% decrease from last week. There were zero imports recorded for the 18th week in a row.

Average weekly gasoline demand grew 0.8% to 389.5 million gallons (9.273 million barrels) daily. This is equivalent to 142.16 billion gallons annualized. Refiner/blender input of ethanol ticked up 0.1% to 904,000 b/d, equivalent to 13.86 billion gallons annualized. The ethanol content in gasoline supplied to the market averaged 9.75%, down from 9.81% the previous week. The average weekly ethanol blend rate has not yet crested 10.0% in the first 14 weeks of 2018, compared to eclipsing the 10.0% level six times in the first 14 weeks of 2017. Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production decreased to 11.15%.