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Ethanol stocks fall to multi-month lows

U.S. ethanol stocks dropped last week.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration says the domestic ethanol supply fell to a 43-week low at 22.154 million barrels.

That was down 1.305 million barrels on the week partially due to strong exports, but that’s still up 628,000 on the year because of the trend in production.

Those ethanol exports averaged 141,000 barrels a day, a rise of 39,000 from the week before and 21,000 from last year.

Ethanol production averaged 1.038 million barrels a day, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week and 34,000 from a year ago.

Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development says estimated operating margins at the average Iowa plant got a little tighter while still holding in positive territory.

The Renewable Fuels Association says the volume of gasoline supplied to the market surged to a near three-year high, while net inputs of ethanol purchased by refiners and blenders grew fractionally.

The USDA expects 5.45 billion bushels of corn to be used for ethanol production this marketing year, with an updated projection out Friday, October 11th at Noon Eastern/11 Central.