Market Recovery Sends Corn Prices Soaring
Ending the week on a high note, the corn market experienced gains of 2 ¾ to 3 cents on Friday. Despite this positive close, the May contract still recorded a net loss of 2 ¾ cents for the week. An intriguing point to note is the expiration gap near $4.20 that was observed in the March contract.
Funds Make Significant Moves
According to the latest CFTC report for the week ending on 3/12, there was a notable short covering activity by funds. Managed money traders reduced their short positions by a substantial 37.6k contracts, which constituted 8% of the existing positions. Additionally, there was fresh buying interest that helped in lowering their net short position to a 9-week low of 256k contracts. In contrast, commercial corn hedgers took a different approach by adding +50k new short hedges while introducing 7.2k new longs during the week. This strategic move turned them net short by 31,068 contracts.
Robust Export Numbers
The weekly FAS data revealed that 1.283 MMT of corn was sold for the week ending on 3/7, pushing total corn commitments to 1.594 bbu. Impressively, this marks a 27% increase compared to the pace set last year. The WASDE balance sheet forecasts full-year exports to be 26.4% higher than last year’s total.
May 24 Corn closed at $4.36 3/4, up 3 cents,
Nearby Cash was $4.11 1/4, up 3 5/8 cents,
Jul 24 Corn closed at $4.49, up 2 3/4 cents,
Dec 24 Corn closed at $4.70 3/4, up 3 cents,
On the publication date, Alan Brugler had no positions, directly or indirectly, in any securities mentioned in this article. The information provided in this article is purely for informational purposes. For more details, please refer to the Barchart Disclosure Policy.
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