For the week ending September 18th U.S. ethanol stock attained 19.99 million barrels. Since the advent of COVID-19, inventory has declined from a peak of 27.69 million barrels on April 17th reflecting plant closings
Ending stock is little changed from June 2010 attesting to lower off take of E-10 attributed to smaller and more efficient vehicles with lower consumption and fewer miles travelled by average consumers.
The recent decision by the Administration to promote E-15 will probably not make any difference to ethanol demand in the near future given that a high proportion of existing vehicles are ineligible to use dilution rates in excess of 10 percent of ethanol in gasoline. The Renewable Fuel Standard is based on a gross over-estimate of demand and should undergo revision to correspond to reality and to exclude the myth of cellulosic ethanol that has not materialized.