Ethanol production decreases for first time in 4 weeks

In Washington, D.C., ethanol production averaged 1.033 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 43.39 million gallons daily, as output thinned by 5,000 b/d from the prior week, according to government data released this morning and analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association. That is a 34,000 b/d reduction from the previous week and a 7-week low. The four-week average for ethanol production decreased for the first time in four weeks, settling at 1.059 million b/d for an annualized rate of 16.23 billion gallons.

Stocks of ethanol were 22.4 million barrels—a 1.8% rise from last week. This is the largest volume of reserves in 14 weeks and 5.7% higher than a year ago. There were zero imports recorded for the 31st week in a row.

Average weekly gasoline demand scaled back by 6.0% to 389.6 million gallons (9.275 million barrels) daily. This is equivalent to 142.19 billion gallons annualized, and represents a 5-week low. Refiner/blender input of ethanol narrowed by 2.1% to 930,000 b/d, equivalent to 14.26 billion gallons annualized and the leanest demand in five weeks. The ethanol content in gasoline supplied to the market averaged 10.03%, up from 9.63% the previous week. Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production increased to 11.14%.