Old crop corn futures led the Friday rally with a 14 cent gain in the May contract. That extended May to net 22 3/4 cent gain for the week, and added to the premium which is now 30 1/2 cents vs July. New crop futures closed the last trade day of the week 6 to 6 3/4 cents higher. December was up by a net 3 1/4 cents from Friday to Friday.
Weekly CFTC data showed the managed money net corn position was 27,112 contracts net long on 4/11. That was a 5.6k contract stronger net long as the new buyers outnumbered the week’s new sellers. Commercial corn traders closed 20.8k contracts during the week, and the larger short covering reduced their net short by 4k contracts to 238,845.
USDA’s weekly Ethanol report showed prices were UNCH to 6 cents lower for the week from $2.30 to $2.42/gal regionally. Corn oil quotes were up 1 to 2 cents to 51-55 c/lb regionally. The DDGS market was mostly lower, within $20/ton of UNCH from $235 - $285 regionally.
The updated 7-day QPF from NOAA had rain systems bringing as much as 3-4” from Ontario Canada to the Gulf of Mexico staying between the river systems. Wisconsin, W. IL, N.E. MO, and IA are going to receive the most accumulation. Soil temp maps showed low 50s F at 4” across the N. borders of IA and NE this morning. WI soil temps were still in the mid 40s.
The USDA announced another 382k MT of corn sales to China this morning, with 246k MT for old crop and 136k MT for 23/24 delivery.
CONAB showed few surprises in their update. They lifted the overall Brazilian corn crop by 202k MT to 124.88 MMT. USDA was at 125 MMT in their April WASDE report. That increase came via a stronger 1st crop yield – now at 6.189 MT/HA, or a 1.2 bpa increase to 98.6. Their total national yield for all three crops was 0.41 bpa higher to 90.55, the best since 2018/19. CONAB has Brazil producing 27.2 MMT for the first crop, 95.6 MMT for their now planted 2nd crop, and 2.3 MMT for the 3rd.
May 23 Corn closed at $6.66 1/4, up 14 cents,
Nearby Cash was $6.67 5/8, up 12 3/8 cents,
Jul 23 Corn closed at $6.35 3/4, up 10 1/4 cents,
Dec 23 Corn closed at $5.60, up 6 1/4 cents,
On the date of publication, Alan Brugler did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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