Ethanol Production Declines for First Time Since 1996

U.S. ethanol production fell last year — the first annual decline since 1996 — on record corn prices, Bloomberg reported.

Production fell to 13.2 billion gallons in 2012, from 13.8 billion the prior year, as corn hit a record high following a severe drought in the Midwest, Bloomberg said.

In the last week of 2012, production fell 3.2% to 807,000 barrels a day, while imports jumped to 87,000 bbd, from 26,000 the previous week, Bloomberg reported.