US weekly ethanol output falls to 1.04m b/d, stocks down 3%

US weekly ethanol production decreased in the week ending August 18, to reach 1.04 million barrels per day (b/d), according to data published by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The move came despite ethanol production margins staying healthy and resulted in a big drop in stocks, which fell by almost 3% week-on-week.

Total ethanol production in the US decreased by 21,000 b/d  in the reporting week, while ethanol output in the Midwest - home to the vast majority of US ethanol production capacity - decreased by 20,000 b/d to 992,000 b/d, according to the EIA.

Over the week, full production equated to the consumption of 2.7 million mt of corn, down from 2.75 million mt a week earlier.

Meanwhile, ethanol stocks decreased by 645,000 barrels to 22.8 million barrels in the period covered by the report - a six-week low.

Margins calculated through a model from Iowa State University showed that the estimated return over operating costs for the average Midwest-based plant increased by 0.05 c/gallon to $0.50/gallon in the week ending August 18.

Meanwhile, corn prices for the week went up by $0.06/bu during the week to an average of $5.60/bu.

Finished ethanol prices increased by 0.08 c/gallon to $2.195/gallon, the data showed.