US Ethanol Supply Up in December as Plants Boost Run Rates

Total U.S. ethanol production jumped 832,000 barrels (bbl), or 1,471 barrels per day (bpd), to 24.424 million bbl, or 787,871 bpd, in December as plants boosted run rates by 0.17 percent to an average of 92.71 percent of operable capacity, according to a Telvent DTN analysis of its own data as well as data out Thursday from the Energy Information Administration. That is a big jump over November production.

It is pretty amazing that there were those that were declaring ethanol dead just few months ago. Many of the plants shuttered due to hard times that everyone was facing during the recession have now reopened under new ownership.

To date there are 212 plants in operation with a combined annual capacity of over 13 billion gallons.