The U.S. DOE’s Energy Information Administration issued its monthly biodiesel statistics during the final week of January. According to those figures, which span through October 2011, U.S. biodiesel production continued to increase as the year came to a close.

According to the EIA, U.S. biodiesel producers manufactured 106 million gallons of biodiesel in October 2011, which is a significant increase compared to the 83 million gallons that were produced in September. Total production for the first 10 months of 2011 equaled 655 million gallons. The production numbers for the same periods of 2010 and 2009 were 276 million gallons and 382 million gallons, respectively.

Imports also increased in October 2011, measuring 82,000 barrels, an increase over the 65,000 barrels exported one month prior. Exports, however, were reduced to 132,000 barrels. The export level for the month prior was 193,000 barrels. During the first 10 months of 2011, the U.S. exported 1 million barrels more biodiesel that in imported.

Consumption continued to lag production during the first 10 months of 2011. During October, the U.S. consumed 93 million gallons of biodiesel. This is a slight reduction when compared to the 97 million gallons that were consumed in September. The total for the first 10 months of the year was 578 million gallons, which is a significant increase over the 201 million gallons and 240 million gallons that were consumed during the same periods of 2010 and 2009.