Corn Prices Steady Ahead of Key Reports
Market Activity Remains Quiet as Analysts Prepare for USDA Crop Production Data
Corn trading on Thursday morning showed little movement, with prices remaining mostly unchanged. Futures ended Wednesday’s session down by around 3 to 4 cents. Traders appear to be positioning themselves in anticipation of upcoming reports on Friday. The national average Cash Corn price, according to cmdtyView, decreased by 4 1/4 cents, settling at $4.24 1/4.
Recent weekly data from the EIA reported an average ethanol production of 1.102 million barrels per day for the week ending January 3. This figure represents a slight decrease of 9,000 bpd from the previous week. Meanwhile, ethanol stocks continued to rise, increasing by 509,000 barrels over the last three weeks to a total of 24.148 million barrels. Additionally, refiner ethanol inputs dropped by 80,000 barrels, landing at 779,000 bpd, while exports gained 56,000 bpd, reaching 155,000 bpd.
On Friday morning, the USDA is set to unveil its annual Crop Production report. Analysts surveyed by Reuters predict a minor reduction of 0.4 bushels per acre (bpa) in yield estimates, bringing it to 182.7 bpa. Production forecasts are expected to decrease by 48 million bushels (mbu) to 15.095 billion bushels (bbu), as a slight reduction in harvested acres is anticipated.
The weekly Export Sales report has been postponed until Friday due to the government closure for a National Day of Mourning in honor of President Carter’s funeral. Notably, the markets will close early at 12:15 pm CST.
Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.54, down 4 cents, with a current uptick of 3/4 cent.
Nearby Cash was recorded at $4.24 1/4, down 4 1/4 cents.
May 25 Corn finished at $4.62 1/4, down 3 1/2 cents, currently rising by 1/4 cent.
Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.65 1/4, down 3 cents, now down 1/4 cent.
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. All information provided is for informational purposes only. To learn more, please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
