After hitting a year-end high the week of December 23, ethanol production moderated the last week of 2023 to a five week low of just over a million barrels per day, or 44.06 million gallons daily, according to the latest Energy Information Administration data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association.

That was 24% more than the same week last year and 7.3% above the five-year average for the week. RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper says they have seen a good rebound in ethanol production this year. “We are expecting somewhere around 15.5 or 15.6 billion gallons of production when the final numbers come in,” said Cooper. “We also saw a continued growth in demand from COVID era levels.” The final ethanol production estimate for 2022 was 15.36 billion gallons.

Ethanol stocks ticked up 0.3% to 23.6 million barrels, the largest weekly volume since mid-April, and ethanol exports were estimated at 69,000 b/d (2.9 million gallons/day), which is 47.7% below the prior week.

Listen to Cooper talk about 2023 ethanol production and demand.
RFA CEO Geoff Cooper on 2023 production 1:50