Both the Chicago paper and physical ethanol prices fell to one-month lows Thursday as additional supply in the market pressured prices.
S&P Global Platts assessed Chicago Argo, a benchmark for physical US ethanol, at $1.5845/gal Thursday, down 75 points compared with Wednesday. Platts assessed the front-month, currently December, Chicago ethanol swap at $1.4925/gal, down 50 points compared with Wednesday.
Argo is at its lowest level since October 6, when it was assessed at $1.57/gal, while the paper market is at its low since the same day when it was assessed at $1.4850/gal.
Prices have fallen for the past week-and-a-half as producers exited seasonal maintenance. Weekly US Energy Information Administration data released November 2 showed US ethanol production rose 31,000 b/d to 1.022 million b/d in the week that ended October 28.
The physical Argo price fell 4.25 cents in a single day after the data was released. Prices have continued to weaken since, with only a brief rally on November 4.
The EIA said output fell to 1.002 million b/d in the week that ended November 4, but the lower run rate was insufficient to bolster prices.
