US ethanol production rose 21,000 b/d to 1.027 million b/d in the week ended May 12, 

Energy Information Administration data showed Wednesday. 

Compared with the same week last year, production was 79,000 b/d or 8.33% higher. 

Total stockpiles rose, adding 359,000 barrels to finish the week with 23.414 million ba

rrels. Both the East Coast and Midwest finished the week with well over 1 million barre

ls more than the same week last year at 1.202 million and 1.394 million, respectively. 

Market participants had expected stocks to draw during plant turnarounds over the pa

st  several weeks. But inventories have proved resilient and the high storage volumes 

have pressured prices over the past several days. 

The four-week rolling average of gasoline demand rose 58,000 b/d to 9.306 million b/

d, while the four-week rolling average of the refiner and blender net ethanol input rose 

10,000 b/d to 935,000 b/d. 

The weekly refiner and blender net ethanol input surged to 951,000 b/d, a 23,000 b/d 

increase. 

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 -- increased 

to 10.05% from 10.00%, 0.05 percentage points above the blend wall. 

The blend wall is the notional 10% limit on ethanol blending driven by infrastructure an

d policy constraints.