U.S. Ethanol Production Drops to Lowest Since January

By Kirk Maltais

Average daily production of ethanol in the U.S. fell to its lowest level since late January, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.

In its latest weekly report, the EIA said that average daily production of ethanol in the U.S. dropped 80,000 barrels a day to 1.04 million barrels a day for the week ended April 17. That's the lowest seen since 956,000 barrels a day was reported in the last week of January.

Production dropped below analyst expectations for the week, with analysts surveyed by Dow Jones forecasting production to land between 1.09 million barrels a day and 1.122 million barrels a day.

Ethanol stocks rose for the week, climbing 249,000 barrels to 26.95 million barrels. It's slightly higher than what analysts had forecast, with predictions landing anywhere between 26.5 million barrels and 26.9 million barrels.

In a note following the report's release, the Hightower Report estimates that 103.58 million bushels of corn were used to produce ethanol this week, making the cumulative total 3.56 billion bushels for the 2025/26 crop year. The firm estimates that corn use needs to average 104.74 million bushels a week for the rest of the year to meet the USDA's forecast of 5.6 billion bushels.

CBOT corn futures are up 0.7% in trade Wednesday. Soybeans are up 0.2%, and wheat is up 0.2%.

To see related data, search "U.S. DOE Oil Data: PADD Breakdown" in Dow Jones NewsPlus.

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 22, 2026 11:29 ET (15:29 GMT)