Corn Futures Rise Amid Mixed Market Performance
Corn Contracts Gain Ground Despite Losses in Beans and Wheat
Corn futures managed to gain momentum, closing higher even as beans and wheat markets faced declines. By the close of the midweek session, corn contracts posted gains ranging from 3 to 4 ¼ cents. The new crop soy/corn ratio currently sits at 2.20, indicating the market’s continuous effort to secure more corn acres. Historically, the average close for December futures in February has been around $4.69, which helps set the baseline for crop insurance prices. This figure reflects a 3-cent increase from last year. The cmdtyView national average Cash Corn price climbed by 6 1/4 cents to $4.56 1/4.
This morning, the USDA announced a private export sale of 130,320 metric tons (MT) of corn to unknown destinations for the 2024/25 season. Anticipation builds as the weekly Export Sales report arrives on Thursday, with projections estimating total sales between 0.8 and 1.7 million MT for the week ending February 6. New crop sales are expected to fall within a 0 to 500,000 MT range.
Recent data from the EIA highlighted ethanol production at 1.082 million barrels per day for the week concluding on February 7, marking a decrease of 30,000 bpd from the prior week. Ethanol stocks dropped by 720,000 barrels, settling at 25.692 million. Export figures also improved, rising by 44,000 barrels per day to 150,000 bpd. Notably, Gulf stocks reached their highest levels since March 2023. Conversely, refiner inputs decreased by 6,000 bpd to 854,000 bpd, even as gasoline product supplied surged to 8.576 million bpd, the highest level since before Christmas.
The Rosario Grains Exchange revised its estimate for Argentina’s corn crop to 46 million MT, representing a 2 million MT reduction from the previous forecast. In market activity, a South Korean importer issued a tender to acquire 140,000 MT of corn, with bids due by Thursday. Algeria has also opened a tender for 240,000 MT of corn, with the same deadline.
Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.90 1/4, gaining 6 1/4 cents.
Nearby Cash was $4.56 1/4, up 6 1/4 cents.
May 25 Corn ended at $5.04, an increase of 6 cents.
Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.73 1/2, up 3 1/4 cents.
New Crop Cash reached $4.41 5/8, gaining 3 cents.
On the publication date, Austin Schroeder did not hold any positions, direct or indirect, in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All contents are for informational purposes only. For further details, please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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