Market News & Headlines >> December Corn-for-Ethanol Use Down

December U.S. corn use for ethanol production was up 2.2% from November, but down 2.5% from a year earlier, as ethanol producers boosted their sorghum use, according to Monday afternoon’s USDA monthly Grain Crushings and Co-Products Report. 

Monthly corn-for-ethanol use was down even though weekly ethanol production estimates from the Energy Information Agency indicate December ethanol production was up from a year earlier. 

USDA pegged December corn-for-ethanol use at 444.5 million bushels, versus 435.0 million in November and 456.0 million in December 2014. USDA reported that sorghum used for ethanol production rose to 7.616 million hundredweight, (13.6 million bushels) in December compared with 5.615 million hundred weight (10.3 million bushels) and only 889,000 hundredweight (1.6 million bushels) a year earlier. 

Despite the year-over-year drop in corn-for-ethanol use, production of distillers dried grains with solubles rose by 2.8% versus a year earlier, topping 1.973 million short tons.

Total corn consumed for alcohol and other uses in December was 495.5 million bushels, which was up 2.3% from November, but down 2.9% from December 2014.