Average ethanol production last week was 1.03 million barrels per day, up 3 percent from the previous week but another week of year-over-year decline. Most-recent four-week average daily production was just over 1.0 million bpd. Earlier this month, USDA trimmed projected 2018/19 corn use for ethanol by just 25 million bushels, to 5.575 billion. USDA tends to adjust this category conservatively, and we expect to see further small reductions in upcoming months.
Average utilization by blenders and refiners last week was 882,000 bpd, up 1 percent from a year ago. Blending rates were slightly higher on average in January than they were in past years, but we expect as the season advances that utilization will resume closely tracking 2017/18’s volumes.
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