Corn futures are down 3 to 5 cents as of midday on May 26, with the CmdtyView national average cash corn price at $4.07 ¾, a decline of 2 ¾ cents. Crude oil also saw a significant drop of $18.32 following a two-week ceasefire between Iran and the U.S., which has resulted in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Ahead of the USDA’s WASDE report on Thursday, analysts expect a slight increase in the U.S. corn carryout projection by 3 million bushels to 2.13 billion bushels. Additionally, world ending stocks are projected to rise 0.4 million metric tons to 293.2 million metric tons. In the week ending April 3, ethanol production increased to 1.116 million barrels per day, while stocks rose by 62,000 barrels to 26.053 million barrels.
South Korean importers have purchased a total of 266,000 metric tons of corn overnight, although the origins of these purchases remain undisclosed. Analysts are anticipating the release of export sales data on Thursday, with estimates for old crop corn commitments ranging from 0.75 to 1.6 million metric tons, and new crop commitments between 0 to 100,000 metric tons.
