Ethanol production hits 20 week low

In Washington, D.C., ethanol production averaged 1.020 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 42.84 million gallons daily, — a 20 week low, according to EIA data released and analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association. The 67,000 b/d shave off the prior week’s output reflects the largest weekly adjustment on record. The four-week average for ethanol production dropped to 1.062 million b/d for an annualized rate of 16.28 billion gallons. Stocks of ethanol climbed to 22.9 million barrels. That is a 0.9% increase from last week. There were zero ethanol imports recorded after logging two consecutive weeks of imports. (Weekly export data for ethanol is not reported simultaneously; the latest export data is as of July 2018.)

Average weekly gasoline demand moderated by 0.9% to 9.649 million barrels (405.3 million gallons) daily. This is equivalent to 147.92 billion gallons annualized. Refiner/blender input of ethanol eroded by 2.7% to 918,000 b/d, equivalent to 14.07 billion gallons annualized and the weakest demand in eight weeks. As a result, the ethanol content in gasoline supplied to the market also fizzled to an 8-week low of 9.51%. Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production decreased to a 21-week low of 10.57%.