U.S. ethanol stocks surge to 18-month high on easing demand
Sept 17 (Reuters) – U.S. ethanol stocks rose 4.3 percent to their highest in 1-1/2 years, government data showed on Wednesday, as fuel demand declined following the end of the summer driving season.
Inventories of the grain-based biofuel jumped 784,000 barrels to 18.81 million barrels during the week ending Sept. 12, with the week-on-week spike the biggest since June, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. Ethanol production expanded for the third week in a row to an average of 931,000 barrels per day, a one-month high.
Ethanol makers were running plants near capacity as low prices for the main feedstock of corn and comparatively high gasoline prices resulted in profitable operating margins for fuel blenders, traders said.
“Stocks are up seasonally coming out of the driving season – it’s not real surprising,” an Iowa ethanol trader said.
Ethanol futures <0#1ZE:> fell 3 percent in the wake of the report in thin dealings at the Chicago Board of Trade, with prices hovering just above the lowest levels of 2014.
Source Link: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1N0RI1C2/
