US ethanol stocks fell 455,000 barrels to 15.952 million barrels for the week ended April 11, while production rebounded 43,000 b/d to a four-month high of 939,000 b/d, data from the Energy Information Administration showed Wednesday.
The draw outweighed the rise in production as exports started to leave the US, sources said.
Imports plunged from 38,000 b/d to zero after EIA data showed the first imports in six months in its previous two reports. Prices across all regions have tumbled since hitting eight-year highs on April 1 as bearish production data and slumping demand have put significant downward pressure on values.
US ethanol stocks fell from a five-week high hit the previous week as supplies declined in four of five regions. East Coast ethanol stocks rose 178,000 barrels to a two-month high of 5.361 million barrels, increasing from an all-time low for a fourth straight week.
Gulf Coast stocks declined 262,000 barrels to 2.397 million barrels, a six-month low. Midwest inventories fell 229,000 barrels to 6.197 million barrels, and West Coast stocks shed 126,000 barrels to 1.703 million barrels, a four-month low.
The four-week rolling average of gasoline demand inched up 26,000 b/d to a three-month high of 8.832 million b/d, and the four-week rolling average of the refiner and blender net ethanol input added 1,000 b/d to 852,000 b/d.
As the rise in gasoline demand has outweighed the proportional rise in blending demand, the four-week rolling average of the ethanol blending rate -- calculated by dividing the four-week rolling averages of the net ethanol input and gasoline demand -- shed 0.01 percentage point to 9.65%, 0.35 percentage point shy of the 10% "blend wall."
The blend wall occurs when the maximum amount of the US gasoline pool has been blended to a level of 10% ethanol. Refiners then will be under pressure to run higher ethanol blends, buy renewable credits known as RINs, or push for Congress to alter the Renewable Fuel Standard.