Ethanol production gets small boost, but still at 2nd lowest volume in 10 weeks

In Washington, D.C., ethanol production averaged 1.051 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 44.11 million gallons daily, according to government data released and analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association. While the 31,000 b/d increase in production was a 3.0% boost over the prior week, ethanol output remains at the second-lowest volume in 10 weeks. The four-week average for ethanol production sank to a 12-week low of 1.057 million b/d for an annualized rate of 16.20 billion gallons. Stocks of ethanol pared back to 22.7 million barrels. That is a 0.9% decrease from last week. There were zero ethanol imports recorded for the second week in a row. (Weekly export data for ethanol is not reported simultaneously; the latest export data is as of July 2018.)

Average weekly gasoline demand tempered for the third straight week, softening 1.2% to 9.534 million barrels (400.4 million gallons) daily. This is equivalent to 146.16 billion gallons annualized. Refiner/blender input of ethanol expanded 1.1% to 928,000 b/d, equivalent to 14.23 billion gallons annualized. Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production moved higher to 11.02%.