Chicago Argo ethanol was assessed Monday at a two-week high of $2.07/gal amid stronger corn futures and tight ethanol supply, sources said.
Specifically, the Chicago Argo ethanol assessment rose 1.5 cents from Friday to the highest level since October 1, when it was at $2.10/gal.
Availability of Chicago Argo ethanol was low, multiple sources said.
"I'm pretty sure Chicago [Argo ethanol supply] is still tight," said an ethanol trader.
Overall, US weekly ethanol stocks fell 119,000 barrels to a record low of 15.39 million barrels for the reporting week that ended October 4, Energy Information Administration data showed Wednesday in its latest weekly report.
The previous record low was at 15.445 million barrels for the reporting week ended June 28. EIA first started tracking ethanol inventories in the reporting week ended June 4, 2010.
EIA furloughed its staff and ceased all data releases and analysis at the close of business Friday due to lack of government funding, the agency said.
"The schedules for resumption of data releases and reports will be determined after the furlough period is over," EIA said in a statement Friday.
Some sources also said that stronger corn futures Monday played a part in the higher Chicago Argo ethanol assessment.
December corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade settled up 3.75 cents from Friday to $4.37/bushel Monday on both short-covering and stronger soybean futures, which compete with corn for use as animal feed, analysts said.
November soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade settled Monday at $12.73/bushel, up 6.25 cents from Friday on market talk of strong export demand from China, analysts said.
