According to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol production averaged 996,000 barrels per day (b/d)—or 41.83 million gallons daily. That is down 37,000 b/d from the week before and the first time in 13 weeks that production has fallen below 1 million b/d. The four-week average for ethanol production decreased to 1.049 million b/d for an annualized rate of 16.08 billion gallons. Stocks of ethanol were 22.7 million barrels. That is a 0.4% increase from last week and the largest reserves in 32 weeks. There were zero imports recorded for the fifth week in a row.
Average weekly gasoline demand rebounded with a 1.9% increase to 370.2 million gallons (8.814 million barrels) daily. This is equivalent to 135.1 billion gallons annualized. However, refiner/blender input of ethanol again decreased, diminishing by 7.0% to 795,000 b/d. This is equivalent to 12.19 billion gallons annualized and therefore the weakest demand in more than two years (105 weeks). The ethanol content in gasoline supplied to the market averaged 9.02%, down from 9.88% the previous week. Ethanol’s share of the gasoline pool has not been this small since Dec. 4, 2015, which translates into a 162-week low.
Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production decreased to 11.30%.
Source: RFA