January 21, 2019
By Cindy Zimmerman
Weekly U.S. ethanol production recovered after the holidays to more like what we were seeing throughout 2018.
According to Energy Information Administration data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol production for the week ending January 11 increased over five percent to the largest volume in six weeks at an average of 1.051 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 44.14 million gallons daily. The four-week average for ethanol production rose fractionally at 1.026 million b/d for an annualized rate of 15.73 billion gallons but was still 1.8% lower than the level a year ago.
There were zero imports recorded for the ninth week in a row. (Weekly export data for ethanol is not reported simultaneously; the latest export data is as of October 2018.)
Average weekly gasoline supplied to the market pulled back 1.9% at 8.565 million b/d (359.7 million gallons per day), equivalent to 131.30 billion gallons annualized and the lowest level since February 2017. Refiner/blender input of ethanol rebounded 5.8% (up 47,000 b/d) at 862,000 b/d—equivalent to 13.21 billion gallons annualized.
Given the lackluster volume of gasoline supplied to the market, daily ethanol production increased to a 58-week high of 12.27% of daily gasoline supplied.
Read the original article: Ethanol Production Back Up