Chad Smith, NAFB News Service

Energy Information Administration data recently analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association shows a rise in ethanol production for the week ending May 22. Production increased by 61,000 barrels a day, a nine percent increase from the previous week. The total production came in at 724,000 barrels a day, equivalent to 30.4 million gallons daily, and was the largest volume since March. That was good news unless it’s compared to the same time in 2019. COVID disruptions have tempered the production rate, which came in just over 31 percent lower than the same week last year. Still, over the past month, the four-week average ethanol production rate rose almost eight percent to 651,000 barrels per day, equivalent to an annualized rate of 9.98 billion gallons. Ethanol stocks continue to drop, even though it’s a slow decline. Stocks thinned out by 1.9 percent, coming in at a 19-week low of 23.2 million barrels. Inventories continue to tighten up in all the major ethanol production areas, except for the Rocky Mountains. Total reserves are still 2.4 percent higher than where the volume was in 2019. The volume of gasoline supplied to the U.S. market, which is considered a measure of implied demand, rebounded by 6.8 percent from the previous week but was still 23 percent lower than the same week last year.