Ethanol Blog

Ethanol inventory levels fell 46.2 million gallons at the end of last week. This is a significant drawdown in overall ethanol supplies in just one week, and is attributed to the transportation and infrastructure issues and damages done by Superstorm Sandy.

This put total ethanol supply at 760.2 million gallon of ethanol throughout the country, which is the lowest level since the last week of 2011.

The inventory buildup seen during the last 11 months is attributed to larger ethanol production before the blenders credit at the end of 2011, and sluggish overall gasoline demand through much of 2012.

It is significant that after struggling with significantly larger inventory levels through the entire year, in just one week, with Superstorm Sandy, the excess inventory has evaporated. There still remain challenges in moving product and driving demand moving back to a normal level, which could leave the market uncertain through the upcoming weeks.

Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@telventdtn.com

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