Ethanol output up 1.4 percent, most in nearly a year

(Reuters) - U.S. ethanol production rose 1.4 percent last week to the highest in nearly a year, while stocks fell more than 2 percent, the Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday.

U.S. ethanol production totaled 930,000 barrels per day in the seven days to November 25, up 13,000 bpd from the previous week. Output was last that strong when it hit 937,000 bpd for the week ended December 10, 2010.

"At that level, you'd be looking at yearly ethanol production of 14.26 billion gallons, and a yearly corn grind of about 5.1 billion bushels using a conservative 2.8 gallon conversion," Linn Group analyst Jerrod Kitt said.

Ethanol inventories saw good demand, falling to 17 million barrels from 17.5 million barrels over the last week, the EIA said.