Higher Corn Demand for Ethanol Production

Ethanol producers used 476.4 million bushels of corn in October, an increase from 435.4 million in September and 463.6 million a year ago, according to the USDA. The agency also reports a recent dip in sorghum use at ethanol plants, shifting demand slightly back toward corn. Ethanol yields have edged lower, indicating that plants are using more corn per gallon. StoneX estimates that weekly ethanol output for the 2025-26 marketing year will need to average 1.115 million barrels per day to hit the USDA’s 5.6 billion-bushel projection for corn used in ethanol. That pace would be about 3.8 percent higher than last year’s December-through-August average.