USDA Yield Cut Boosts Corn Futures and Adjusts Production Estimates
Futures Close Higher Following USDA Update
A yield cut announced by the USDA earlier on Friday led to corn futures finishing the day with gains ranging from fractional up to 3 ¾ cents. Notably, December corn experienced a significant increase of 16 ½ cents this week. Meanwhile, the national average Cash Corn price reported by cmdtyView rose by 4 cents to reach $4.04 1/2 per bushel.
Private Export Sales Indicate Strong Demand
In the latest report, the USDA disclosed private export sales of 200,480 metric tons of corn for the 2024/25 season to unknown destinations during the current reporting period.
Crops Report: Reductions in Yield and Production
According to the USDA’s Crop Production report, the yield estimate was lowered by 0.7 bushels per acre to 183.1 bushels per acre (bpa). Harvested acreage remained unchanged, as expected, resulting in a total production drop of 60 million bushels to 15.143 billion bushels.
Projected Stocks Tighter Amid Stable Demand
This lower production forecast tightened the projected stocks, decreasing it by 61 million bushels to 1.938 billion bushels. The World Agricultural Outlook Board decided to keep the demand side of the balance sheet unchanged, despite strong ethanol production and export activities ongoing at the start of this year. Globally, South American production levels stayed the same, while world ending stocks fell by 2.38 million metric tons to 304.14 million metric tons.
Speculative Funds Turn Bullish on Corn Futures
Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) indicated a shift for speculative funds in corn futures and options, moving to a net long position of 22,043 contracts in the week ending November 5. This change represented a notable increase of 39,746 contracts to the long side, marking the first net long position for managed money since August 2023. On the other hand, commercial traders increased their net short position by 24,794 contracts, reaching the largest level since June 2023 at -242,949 contracts.
Latest Corn Futures Prices
Dec 24 Corn closed at $4.31, up 3 1/2 cents;
Nearby Cash was $4.04 1/2, up 4 cents;
Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.44 1/4, up 3 3/4 cents;
May 25 Corn closed at $4.51 1/2, up 3 3/4 cents;
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold any positions in the mentioned securities. All information and data presented in this article are for informational purposes only. For further details, please refer to the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
