Corn futures showed mixed trends ahead of the long weekend, with May contracts down 9 ¾ cents this week and December contracts dropping 9 cents. The CmdtyView national average cash corn price fell to $4.12 1/2, a decrease of 2 1/4 cents. The trading session will resume on Monday after a closure on Friday for Good Friday.
For the week ending March 26, export sales data indicated 1.15 million metric tons (MMT) of old crop corn were sold, down 5.6% from the previous week and 2% lower than the same period last year. Notable purchases included 170,700 MT from Mexico and 168,800 MT from Japan. New crop sales totaled 102,609 MT, all to Mexico.
Monthly export data reported a record 6.77 MMT (266.5 million bushels) of corn exported in February, representing a 2.44% increase from January. Distillers’ exports rose by 8.26% year-over-year, totaling 919,855 MT, while ethanol shipments reached a February record of 794.45 million gallons.
