US ethanol output rose nearly 5 pct in July-EIA

WASHINGTON, - U.S. daily ethanol production rose about 4.9 percent in July on greater demand for the alternative motor fuel, the Energy Information Administration said.

Distillers made more than 728,000 barrels per day of the fuel in July, up from about 694,000 bpd in June, the EIA, the statistics arm of the Department of Energy, said in its Petroleum Supply Monthly report on Tuesday.

Fuel blenders and refiners mixed more than 673,000 bpd of ethanol into gasoline in July, up from 669,000 bpd in June, the EIA said.

Margins for making ethanol improved starting in early June on lower prices for corn, the main input cost for making fuel in the United States.

U.S. mandates call for increasing amounts of ethanol made from grains to be blended into gasoline in an effort to help wean the country off foreign oil. The mandate hits a maximum of 15 billion gallons a year to be blended into fuel in 2015.

source: reuters