Friday Morning Weakness in Corn

Friday corn trading is rolling into the day portion with fractional to 6 cent losses. New crop Dec is up by a 1/2 cent. Overnight ranges were within a nickel of red. Corn prices settled near their lows on Thursday. December corn ended with a 12 cent loss to $6.50, while the other nearby contracts gave back 3 1/4 cents to 6 1/2 cents.  Those corn warehouse receipts continue to circulate, with 291 deliveries against December overnight. Stonex and RJO customers were on the receiving end of most of them, which are at two Illinois Cargill locations. 

USDA’s monthly Grain Crushing report showed 448.895 mbu of corn was used for ethanol during October. That was up 17% from September’s pull, but down 4% yr/yr. With that, 1.745m tons of DDGS were produced, and 186,770 tons of corn oil – a 3-mo high. 

Weekly FAS data showed 602.7k MT of corn was sold during the week that ended 11/24. That was down from 1.85 MMT the week prior and was 59% of the sale made during the same week last year. Mexico was the week’s top buyer Accumulated shipments sat at 5.773 MMT (227 mbu) as of 11/24. 

EPA’s updated biofuels ruling suggests 15b gallons of ethanol will be required under the new quotas in 2023, with a very small increase by 2025. 

Private estimates for Argentine corn production are leaking lower, to 49-50 MMT. Ideas for Brazil are still running a record 125 MMT. The trade average guesses will be out early next week, with the WASDE report on 12/9. 

Dec 22 Corn  closed at $6.50, down 12 cents, currently down 6 1/4 cents

Nearby Cash   was $6.67 7/8 on Thursday, down 10 cents,

Mar 23 Corn  closed at $6.60 1/2, down 6 1/2 cents, currently down 4 1/2 cents

May 23 Corn  closed at $6.59 1/4, down 6 cents, currently down 3 1/2 cents