Thursday’s corn session has prices 2 to 3 ¼ cents in the red. March is holding at the $4.50 mark. A Chinese cut in bank reserve requirements was seen as an attempt to stimulate the economy there.
The weekly FAS data had corn bookings at 955k MT for the week of 1/18. That was within the range of estimates, but compared to 1.25 MMT last week and 910k MT during the same week last year. USDA’s report showed Mexico, unknown destinations, and Colombia were the week’s top buyers. Corn commitments reached 32.5 MMT, and remain 8.5 MMT ahead of last year's pace.
EIA’s weekly update showed ethanol production fell 236k bpd during the week ending 1/19 to just 818k barrels per day. That snapped the 17-wk streak of +1m bpd production and was the lowest since February of 2021. Insiders were citing the cold weather that week for the low output, as similar declines have happened in other “well below zero” temp environments.
USDA’s Ag Attache estimates China’s corn imports will total 20 MMT, compared to the 23 MMT import forecast via the official WASDE tables.
Brazil will see active rains across the northern 2/3 of the country over the next 10 days. This is being presented as delaying soybean harvest and thus second crop corn planting, but will also mean more soil moisture for germination of said second crop.
Mar 24 Corn is at $4.50 1/2, down 1 3/4 cents,
Nearby Cash is at $4.28 1/4, down 1 1/2 cents,
May 24 Corn is at $4.60, down 2 1/2 cents,
Jul 24 Corn is at $4.68, down 2 3/4 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.