April 2, 2009 - WASHINGTON, DC – According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), American ethanol facilities produced 630,000 barrels per day (b/d) in January. That is an increase from 510,000 b/d in January 2008, but a slight fall off from December 2008 production levels of 658,000 b/d.

Ethanol demand, as calculated by the Renewable Fuels Association, also saw a year over year increase. January demand was 644,000 b/d, an increase of 123,000 b/d from January 2008.

For the first time, the EIA also included import data. EIA shows fuel ethanol imports of 15.6 million gallons in January

The RFA released the following statistics:

January 2009 Statistics
(mg = million gallons; b/d = barrels per day)

Fuel Ethanol Production     820.9 mg 630,000 b/d
Fuel Ethanol Use                837.6 mg 644,000 b/d
Fuel Ethanol Stocks            595.8 mg 22.0 days of reserve
Fuel Ethanol Exports           0.0mg n/a
Fuel Ethanol Imports           15.6 mg
Source: Energy Information Administration

“The results of the familiar economic challenges that are facing all industries, including ethanol, can be seen in the slight slowdown in ethanol production month over month,” said RFA President Bob Dinneen. “Frozen credit markets, volatile commodity markets, and a decline in fuel demand all contributed to the slight reduction in ethanol production and demand. However, recent indicators suggest that demand for ethanol is rebounding again as we head toward the summer driving season. We remain confident that America’s ethanol producers will provide sufficient volumes of ethanol to meet the requirements of the Renewable Fuels Standard with domestically produced ethanol.”

A complete list of ethanol facilities and total operating capacity can be found at www.EthanolRFA.org/industry/locations.