Ethanol production contracts 1.9%

In Washington, D.C., ethanol production contracted 1.9% (down 20,000 barrels per day, or b/d) to an average of 1.031 million b/d—or 43.30 million gallons daily, according to government data released and analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association. The four-week average for ethanol production declined to 1.023 million b/d for an annualized rate of 15.68 billion gallons.Weekly production was 2.9% lower than the level a year ago, while the four-week average was 1.4% lower. Stocks of ethanol were 23.5 million barrels, up 0.4%. This reflects the fourth straight week of progressive increases of 0.1 million barrels/week. There were zero imports recorded for the tenth week in a row. (Weekly export data for ethanol is not reported simultaneously; the latest export data is as of October 2018.)

Gasoline demand has at last lifted from the prevailing doldrums experienced during the holidays and Winter Storm Gia. Average weekly gasoline supplied to the market scaled up 3.5% to a four-week high of 8.868 million b/d (372.5 million gallons per day), equivalent to 135.95 billion gallons annualized. Refiner/blender input of ethanol followed 2.4% higher (up 21,000 b/d) at 883,000 b/d—equivalent to 13.54 billion gallons annualized. However, the ethanol content in gasoline supplied to the market averaged 9.96%, down from 10.06% the previous week. Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production dropped to 11.63%.