Ethanol Inventory Declines

By DTN Staff

OAKHURST, N.J. (DTN) -- Domestic ethanol supply declined through March 17 as blender inputs, a measure of demand, gained for a second week while production fell after two weeks with increasing output, according to data released Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration.

EIA reports overall ethanol production in the United States dropped 17,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 997,000 bpd, the lowest level since the first week of January and only the second time this year below 1 million bpd. Versus a year ago, output was down 4.3%, while data show four-week average output at 1.006 million bpd was 17,000 bpd lower than the same four weeks in 2022.

Midwest PADD 2 ethanol production fell 12,000 bpd in the week to 954,000 bpd, 3.4% below a year ago.

Data show ethanol blending activity rose 3,000 bpd through March 17 to 881,000 bpd, 1.8% below the corresponding week in 2022. The four-week average blender inputs were 876,000 bpd, 8,000 bpd below last year.

Blender inputs at the East Coast PADD 1 rose 3,000 bpd week-on-week while inputs at the Midwest held steady, rose 2,000 bpd at the Gulf Coast and eased 1,000 bpd at the West Coast PADD 5.

Total ethanol supply in the U.S. moved off a 50-week high, down 206,000 barrels (bbl) to 26.188 million bbl as of March 17, 0.4% higher than the corresponding week in 2022.

East Coast inventory declined after two weeks higher, down 347,000 bbl to 8.33 million bbl while stocks in the Midwest rose a second week, up 445,000 bbl to 10.328 million bbl.

Gulf Coast ethanol inventory declined for the first time in three weeks, down 287,000 bbl to 4.787 million bbl and supply at the West Coast edged higher to 2.346 million bbl.

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