NEW YORK: US corn-based ethanol production fell to unusually low levels last week, a poor start to the new corn marketing year as high prices continue to constrain overall fuel demand.

The Energy Information Administration showed US fuel ethanol production in the week ended Sept 16 averaged 901,000 barrels per day, off at least 7% from the date’s pre-pandemic normal, the week’s lowest output in eight years and the lightest for any week since February 2021.

That marked a 6.4% drop in production from the prior week, which outside of the early pandemic weeks and the February 2021 winter storm is the largest weekly percentage decline since at least 2010.

However, average output in the latest four-weeks remains above the same periods in the prior two years.

It is not uncommon for US ethanol plants to briefly go offline for maintenance just before the corn harvest comes in.

But last week’s decline could have been exacerbated by the serious threat that the US railroads, critical to ethanol transportation, would not be running soon.

The government and labour unions reached a deal earlier that averted a railway shutdown, supporting a rebound in ethanol output for the week.

 - Reuters