Ethanol production lowest volume in 11 weeks

In Washington, D.C., ethanol production contracted 3.0% to the lowest volume in 11 weeks at an average of 1.011 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 42.46 million gallons daily, according to government data released and analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association. The four-week average for ethanol production softened at 1.036 million b/d for an annualized rate of 15.88 billion gallons. That is 36,000 b/d (3.4%) lower than last year at this time. Stocks of ethanol inched 0.4% higher to 23.2 million barrels. There were zero imports recorded for the seventh week in a row. (Weekly export data for ethanol is not reported simultaneously; the latest export data is as of October 2018.)

Average weekly gasoline supplied to the market fizzled by 7.8% to 8.623 million b/d (362.2 million gallons per day) during the holiday week, equivalent to 132.19 billion gallons annualized. This is the weakest level in 98 weeks (since Feb. 2017). Refiner/blender input of ethanol followed with a 7.2% (67,000 b/d) reduction at 868,000 b/d, equivalent to 13.31 billion gallons annualized. While this marks a 47-week low, it remains 1.5% higher than the last week of 2017. Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline supplied to the market, daily ethanol production increased to 11.72%.