According to the EIA data released this morning, U.S. ethanol production averaged 1.075 million barrels per day in the week ending March 27. This was down by 41,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Ethanol stocks declined by 1.179 million barrels to 25.991 million barrels, with most of the draw occurring in the Midwest and Gulf regions. Ethanol exports increased by 4,000 barrels per day to 123,000 barrels per day, while refiner inputs rose by 14,000 barrels per day to 903,000 barrels per day.

The Export Sales report to be released on Thursday is expected to show old crop corn sales between 0.9 and 1.6 million tons for the week ending March 26, while new crop sales are projected between 0 and 100,000 tons.

According to USDA’s Grain Crushing report, corn grind during February totaled 424.8 million bushels. This was 0.73% higher than last year but 8% lower than January. Corn used for ethanol in the current marketing year has reached 2.744 billion bushels so far, which is 7 million bushels lower than last year. USDA’s balance sheet is projecting a year-on-year increase of 111 million bushels in corn usage.