The U.S. ethanol industry is operating at near-normal levels for the first time since early 2020 as virus restrictions lift and Americans hit the road for the summer travel season, reports Reuters.
Data from the Energy Information Administration last week showed that U.S. ethanol output reached 1.067 million barrels/day in the week ended June 4, a 15-month high. That marked the fourth consecutive week that production topped 1 million barrels/day.
The four-week average output of 1.036 million barrels is down just 0.4% from the average of the same period between 2017 and 2019. The downside departure in the prior week had been 2.3%, a post-pandemic best at the time.
Ethanol production is outpacing demand in the immediate term as stocks jumped a total of 5% in the past two weeks to just under 20 million barrels.
