Corn futures closed on March 26, 2023, with the nearby contracts down 5.5 cents to $4.33 1/4. Deferred new crop contracts increased by 2.25 cents. The CmdtyView national average cash corn price decreased by 1.5 cents to $4.05 3/4, with 448 deliveries issued the previous Friday.
In export inspections, corn shipments totaled 1.858 million metric tons (73.17 million bushels) for the week ending February 26, an 8% decrease from the previous week but up 37.41% compared to the same week last year. Mexico received the highest shipment at 521,921 metric tons, followed by South Korea and Japan at 269,686 and 221,965 metric tons, respectively. Year-to-date shipments amount to 39.619 million metric tons, representing a 42.29% increase year-over-year.
USDA’s January Grain Crushing report indicated that corn usage for ethanol production was 460.95 million bushels, a 1.49% decline from the previous year and down 4.5% from December. In Brazil, the first crop corn harvest is 36% complete, and the second crop is 66% planted, both behind last year’s pace.
