Ethanol plants holding off on maintenance to take advantage of high margins

In Washington, Brownfield Ag News reports Energy Information Administration data shows ethanol production last week was below 1 million barrels per day on average for the third week in a row at 970,000 bpd. Strong margins are likely responsible for producers keeping above last year’s production levels by 65,000 bpd as they postpone maintenance closures. Even though ethanol blending fell to a five-week low, stocks still fell last week to 23.533 million barrels despite the West Coast PADD region importing an average of 36,000 bpd.