US ethanol consumption picks up as stocks dip, production eases: EIA

US domestic consumption of ethanol has eaten through close to a million barrels of ethanol in the week ending January 26, with production falling slightly, data from the USDA has shown Wednesday.

Ethanol production remained comfortably above the million barrel mark at 1.04 million barrels a day, a fall of 22,000 barrels per day from the previous week, according to the data.

That production came in just below analyst estimates, which had anticipated a range of 1.05 million-1.07 million barrels.

That equates to implied corn demand of 109 million bushels across the week, meaning the US ethanol industry is still on course to surpass the USDA’s current 5.525 billion bushel estimate for demand from the ethanol sector.

Stock levels fell at a faster rate than production, however, declining by 800,000 barrels to 23 million barrels, the data shows, below market expectations which had put a floor on stock levels at 23.3 million barrels.

Also released later today will be monthly ethanol export data for November, with analysts also expecting fresh support for corn prices as ethanol exports are expected to surge.