Ethanol Rises for Third Day as Report Shows Stockpiles Eroding

Ethanol futures rose for a third day in Chicago after the government reported a second weekly stockpile decline.

Prices jumped a day after the Energy Department said stockpiles sank to 20.6 million barrels in the week ended May 11, the lowest amount since Jan. 17 and 9.3 percent below the record of 22.7 million for the week ended March 16. Supply is up 1.1 percent from a year ago.

“For the last three or four months, everyone has been talking about this glut,” said Jerrod Kitt, an analyst at Linn Group in Chicago. “What happened to it? You’re only about a percent off the year-ago number and almost 10 percent from the high.”

Denatured ethanol for June delivery climbed 1.1 cents, or 0.5 percent, to settle at $2.181 a gallon on the Chicago Board of Trade, the highest price since May 8. Ethanol has fallen 1 percent this year.

In spot market trading, ethanol on the West Coast added 3.5 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $2.325 a gallon and in New York the additive increased 1.5 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $2.20, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Ethanol in Chicago advanced 0.5 cent to $2.14 a gallon and in the U.S. Gulf the biofuel sank 2 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $2.185.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mario Parker in Chicago at mparker22@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net