News

Ethanol production, stocks fall to multi-week lows

Seasonal maintenance impacted ethanol production last week.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration says production averaged 1.028 million barrels per day, down 71,000 on the week and the lowest in more than four months as the industry awaits newly harvested corn, but still up 4,000 on the year due to demand expectations and increased capacity.

The weekly demand numbers were mixed.

Ethanol stocks of 24.683 million barrels were a 7-week low and 537,000 under the previous week, but 1.215 million above a year ago.

The Renewable Fuels Association says net inputs of ethanol purchased by refiners and blenders were modestly lower even as the volume of gasoline supplied to the market was slightly higher.

Ethanol exports averaged 122,000 barrels per day, 39,000 less than the week before, but 10,000 more than last year.

The Iowa State Center for Agricultural and Rural Development says the estimated operating margin for the typical Iowa plant remained in positive territory.

The USDA’s updated corn for ethanol use projection is out October 9^th.