U.S. Ethanol Production Drops More Than Expected

Daily production of ethanol in the U.S. sank to its lowest level since March, more than expected by analysts surveyed by Dow Jones.

In its weekly report released Wednesday, the EIA said that U.S. ethanol production is at 933,000 barrels per day for the week ended Aug. 20, a 40,000 barrel-per-day decrease from last week.

The decline is more than expected by analysts, who had expected production to be at anywhere from 962,000 barrels per day to 990,000 barrels per day. Production was assessed at 973,000 barrels per day by the EIA last week.

Inventories also fell this week, dropping 335,000 barrels to 21.22 million barrels. The decline is within the range forecast by analysts, who had forecast inventories within 21 million barrels and 22.35 million barrels this week.