Cold Blast Drops Ethanol Production to Three-Year Low

A blast of cold weather in the Corn Belt sent ethanol production down 22 percent last week to its lowest point in three years. Bloomberg says America’s output of the corn-based biofuel missed all its survey estimates while stockpiles hit the highest level since March.

The Energy Information Administration says the rise in stockpiles was the eighth straight week of increases. Ethanol production dropped to 18,000 barrels a day during the week ending on January 19, down from 1.054 million barrels during the previous week and the lowest level since the seven days ending on February 19, 2021. The Midwest, which produces the most ethanol in the country, had production fall to 766,000 barrels a day, a significant drop from 1.001 million a week earlier.

The EIA says Rocky Mountain production declined, East Coast production was unchanged, and Gulf Coast production rose by 21,000 barrels a day. Inventories reached 25.815 million barrels.