US ethanol production falls for 5th straight week

In Washington, according to EIA data as analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association, US ethanol production averaged 986,000 barrels per day (b/d)—or 41.41 million gallons daily. That is down 1,000 b/d from the week before. The four-week average for ethanol production decreased for the fifth consecutive week, landing at 988,000 b/d for an annualized rate of 15.146 billion gallons. Contrary to most expectations, stocks of ethanol diminished only slightly from last week. Stocks decreased just 0.4% to 23.2 million barrels, 7.4% higher than year-ago levels.

Average weekly gasoline demand stood at 384.6 million gallons (9.156 million barrels) daily. Refiner/blender input of ethanol decreased 0.5% to 927,000 b/d. Still, the implied ethanol blend rate in gasoline supplied to the market was 10.12%, the eighth time this year (17 weeks) that the 10% threshold has been exceeded (compared to zero times during the same period last year). Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production was 10.77%, a full percentage point higher than one year ago.

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