US weekly ethanol production falls to 1.057 million b/d, stocks up

US weekly ethanol production decreased by 21,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 1.057 million b/d in the week ending March 1, according to data published by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) Wednesday.

Total ethanol output in the Midwest, which is the home to the vast majority of US ethanol production capacity, declined as well by 21,000 b/d to 1.008 million b/d.

Over the week, full production equated to consumption of 2.72 million mt of corn, down from the 2.78 million mt reported a week earlier.

Meanwhile, ethanol stocks increased by 29,000 barrels week on week to 26.05 million barrels in the period covered by the report.

Margins calculated through a model from Iowa State University showed that the estimated return over operating costs for the average Midwest-based plant decreased by 22 c/gallon to 11 c/gallon in the week ending March 1.

Corn prices for the week went up by 29 c/bu to $4.20/bu.

Finished ethanol prices decreased by 9 c/gallon to $1.32/gallon.