Corn futures experienced fractional losses on Monday morning following the Easter weekend, with May contracts down 2 cents to close at $4.52 1/4. Old crop contracts were down 2 cents, while new crop remained steady. As of March 31, open interest rose by 12,719 contracts, and January’s total commitments for corn sales have reached 70.025 million metric tons (MMT), up 29% year-over-year and representing 84% of the USDA export projection.
Export sales data for the week ending March 26 showed old crop sales at 1.15 MMT, down 5.6% from the previous week and 2% year-over-year. Mexico led purchases with 170,700 MT, followed by Japan at 168,800 MT, and Taiwan at 150,900 MT. New crop sales accounted for 102,609 MT, all destined for Mexico.
In the Commitment of Traders report, 16,574 contracts were reduced from the managed money net long position, bringing the total to 267,974 contracts as of March 31. The nearby cash corn price stands at $4.12 1/2, down 2 1/4 cents.
