U.S. ethanol production rose 2.8 percent last week to an average of 1.126 million barrels a day, according to the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. Output was higher than market expectations and 6 percent above the same week last year.

The estimated corn crushed for ethanol was about 110.3 million bushels. Cumulative crushings for the marketing year rose to approximately 2.896 billion bushels, reaching about 52 percent of the USDA’s target. Ethanol crushings need to average about 108.2 bushels per week to meet the current forecast.

Ethanol inventories fell 2.9 percent from the previous week to 25.58 million barrels. Stocks were lower than expected and 6.6 percent below the same week last year. Inventories were slightly above the five-year average.

Implied gasoline demand jumped 11.4 percent higher last week. That was the largest jump in about a year. On a four-week average basis, demand rose by the most since October 2024.

Ethanol exports averaged 188,000 barrels a day last week, down from 217,000 the previous week but up from 162,000 the same week last year.

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