U.S. ethanol producers reduced corn consumption in April as fuel alcohol production moderated from the previous month, according to the latest Grain Crushings and Co-Products Production report released by the USDA.
The industry consumed 428 million bushels of corn for fuel ethanol production during April, down 10 per cent from March but marginally higher than the volume recorded in April 2025, Ethanol Producer Magazine reported.
Overall corn use for alcohol production and other industrial purposes stood at 478 million bushels, representing a 9 per cent month-on-month decline and a 1 per cent increase compared with the same period last year. Of the total volume, 92.1 per cent was directed toward alcohol production, while 7.9 per cent was used for other applications, according to Ethanol Producer Magazine.
Dry milling continued to dominate ethanol production, accounting for around 82 per cent of corn processed for fuel alcohol, while wet milling contributed approximately 8 per cent.
Co-product output showed mixed trends across production facilities.
At dry mills, condensed distillers solubles production rose to 118,328 tonnes in April from 116,098 tonnes in March and 111,885 tonnes a year earlier.
Corn oil production reached 189,215 tonnes, lower than the previous month’s level of 202,439 tonnes but above the 176,439 tonnes recorded in April last year.
Production volumes of feed co-products weakened during the month. Distillers dried grains declined to 348,065 tonnes from 479,000 tonnes in March, while distillers dried grains with solubles fell to 1.61 million tonnes from 1.79 million tonnes in the previous month.
Distillers wet grains output stood at 1.3 million tonnes, slightly lower than March but above year-ago levels. Modified distillers grain production also eased to 474,339 tonnes, although production remained higher than in April 2025.
Among wet milling operations, production of corn germ meal, corn gluten feed, corn gluten meal and wet corn gluten feed all registered month-on-month declines.
The report also highlighted continued growth in carbon dioxide recovery across ethanol facilities. Captured COâ‚‚ volumes increased to 242,753 tonnes in April from 237,657 tonnes in March and were slightly above the level recorded during the same month last year.
