Last month I cautioned investors that while ethanol production margins at the time were "flying high," the operating outlook made it unlikely that they would continue to do so for very long. I based my assessment on the fact that gasoline (and, by extension, ethanol) demand is falling well short of historical levels this summer, let alone April's bullish expectations. A growing surfeit of gasoline and ethanol inventories further meant that, absent a major increase to the price of the former, ethanol margins would quickly decline as ethanol producers restarted production at facilities