Ethanol Stocks Drop

By DTN Staff

OAKHURST, N.J. (DTN) -- Ethanol inventories in the United States moved off a 39-week high as demand for the fuel blendstock nudged up about 1% while the uptick in production was marginal, the most recent data from the Energy Information Administration show.

Blending activity, a measure of demand, recouped the prior week decline, up 7,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 785,000 bpd in the week profiled, 10.1% below the corresponding week in 2020, data show. Blending activity during the four weeks ended Feb. 5 averaged 782,000 bpd, 93,000 bpd or 10.5% below the comparable year-ago period.

Midwest PADD 2 blending demand edged up 1,000 bpd on the week while at the Gulf Coast demand jumped 7,000 bpd or 5.4%, the data show. For the four weeks ended Feb. 5, EIA reports PADD 2 blending activity 18,000 bpd below the year prior, while PADD 3 activity was down 10,000 bpd.

Overall ethanol plant production gained 1,000 bpd in the week profiled to 937,000 bpd, 9.3% lower than the corresponding week in 2020. Four-week average output dropped 110,000 bpd against a year ago to 938,000 bpd.

At 23.796 million barrels (bbl), total domestic ethanol supply declined 520,000 bbl, 2.5% below the same week a year ago.

EIA reported East Coast PADD 1 declined a second week, down 196,000 bbl to 7.915 million bbl, 10.3% lower than supply on-hand this time last year, while Midwest PADD 2 supply held higher, up 62,000 bbl to 8.038 million bbl, 5.9% below this time in 2020.

At the Gulf Coast PADD 3, stocks fell from a 36-week high, declining for the fourth time in five weeks. At 4.634 million bbl, stocks declined 367,000 bbl but are more than 12% higher than last year. Data show West Coast PADD 5 stocks decreased 31,000 bbl to 2.835 million bbl.

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