Price Movements:
As Wednesday came to a close, nearby corn prices found themselves 5 ¾ cents lower, contributing to a 12-cent dip for the week. This downward trend was accompanied by a rise in open interest, climbing by 2,573 contracts as the market eagerly anticipates Thursday’s reports.
Ethanol Industry Snapshot:
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) delivered some numbers on ethanol production, revealing that output averaged 1.054 million barrels per day by the end of the week on 3/22, marking a 3-week high. Additionally, ethanol stocks saw an uptick of 97k barrels, reaching 26.09 million barrels.
Export Expectations:
Traders are eyeing the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) to unveil export figures between 800k MT and 1.3 MMT of old crop corn from the week ending 3/21. New crop bookings, on the other hand, are estimated to fall below 150k MT for the same week.
South Korea is actively participating in the market, with NOFI tendering for 134k MT and FLC securing 65k MT without a formal tender. MFG also got in on the action, booking 70k MT of feed corn.
Planting Progress:
Safras and Mercado’s report painted a picture of Brazil’s corn planting progress, standing at a significant 97.3% for the second crop, an improvement from last year’s 94.7% at the same period. Meanwhile, in Texas, corn planting has reached 46% completion as of 3/24, showing a 12% increase from the previous week and now sitting 3% above the average. Milo planting in Texas also made strides, hitting 37% by the same date and outpacing the average by 1%.
Export Performance:
The US saw a boost in corn export inspections year-to-date, reaching 24.4 MMT compared to last year’s 18.3 MMT.
May 24 Corn closed at $4.26 3/4, down 5 3/4 cents,
Nearby Cash was $4.04 3/8, down 5 1/2 cents,
Jul 24 Corn closed at $4.39 1/4, down 5 3/4 cents,
Dec 24 Corn closed at $4.62 1/4, down 5 3/4 cents,
On the date of publication, Alan Brugler had no direct or indirect positions in the mentioned securities. The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
