According to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association for the week ending April 21, ethanol production scaled back 5.6% to 967,000 b/d, equivalent to 40.61 million gallons daily. Still, the volume produced was 0.4% more than the same week last year and 7.4% above the five-year average for the week. The four-week average ethanol production rate decreased 0.9% to 988,000 b/d, equivalent to an annualized rate of 15.15 billion gallons (bg).
Ethanol stocks eased 3.9% to a 14-week low of 24.3 million barrels. Yet, stocks were 1.4% higher than a year ago and 5.8% above the five-year average. Inventories thinned across all regions except the Rocky Mountains (PADD 4).
The volume of gasoline supplied to the U.S. market, a measure of implied demand, surged 11.6% to 9.51 million b/d (145.80 bg annualized)—the largest week-on-week volume increase in over two decades and the highest gasoline demand since late December 2021. Demand was 8.8% more than a year ago and 13.8% above the five-year average.
Refiner/blender net inputs of ethanol increased 1.9% to 899,000 b/d, equivalent to 13.78 bg annualized. Net inputs were 1.6% more than the same week last year and 7.0% above the five-year average.
There were zero imports of ethanol recorded for the twentieth consecutive week. (Weekly export data for ethanol is not reported simultaneously; the latest export data is as of February 2023.)
