Ethanol makers produced 14.15 billion gallons of ethanol during the 12 months ending on Sept 1, coinciding with the corn marketing year, says economist Darrell Good of U-Illinois. Output was up 1.3 billion gallons, or 10 percent, from 2012/13. Some 13.6 billion gallons – a record – were blended into gasoline for U.S. cars and trucks and 788 million gallons were exported, said Good at farmdoc daily. Domestic use was up 3 percent from the previous year due to a small increase in U.S. fuel usage and slightly larger sales of higher blends of ethanol.
With another record corn harvest forecast for this year, Good said corn-for-ethanol would be a factor in limiting the build-up of corn supplies. There is “only limited potential for growth in domestic ethanol consumption, he said. “Export potential is enhanced by the current low price of ethanol relative to gasoline, but increases are not yet evident in monthly Census Bureau export estimates,” he said.