US ethanol production up at 1.003 million b/d, stockpiles decline

US ethanol production added 6,000 barrels per day (b/d) in the week ending March 24, while stockpiles decreased by 661,000 barrels, data published by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed Wednesday.

Total ethanol production across the US increased to 1.003 million b/d in the reporting week, surpassing the analysts' average estimate that called for a production rise of 4,000 thousand barrels to 1.001 million b/d.

Over the week, full production equated to the consumption of 2.58 million mt of corn, up 10,000 mt from the previous week.

Ethanol stockpiles moved down by 661,000 barrels to 25.5 million barrels in the period covered by the report, compared with 26.2 million barrels a week earlier.

The stockpile decline was below analyst projections which had estimated a week-on-week loss of around 196,000 barrels to 26 million barrels.

All regions reported fewer stocks, except the West Coast, which was nearly unchanged, just 1,000 barrels below the week before.

Weekly Gulf Coast ending stocks were the reason for the stockpile decline reported during the week, with 625,000 stocks of fuel ethanol lesser than the prior week.

Margins calculated through a model from Iowa State University showed that the estimated return over operating costs for the average Midwest-based plant declined in the week ending March 24 to $0.26/gallon, down 1 cent from a week earlier.

Corn prices for the week advanced by $0.04/bushel (bu) during the week to an average of $6.65/bu.

Finished ethanol prices also increased, moving up $0.03/gallon to $2.09/gallon.