Corn Flips back to Net Red for the Week on Thursday

Strong sell pressure on Thursday pushed the corn market 5 to 8 cents weaker and held futures near the lows through the afternoon. Prices ultimately ended the day fractionally off their lows with 5 ¼ to 7 ½ cent losses. 

USDA’s mandatory reporting system announced a 100k MT old crop corn sale to Mexico this morning. 

The weekly FAS data had 1.283 MMT of corn sold for the week that ended 3/7. That was a 4-wk high and was the 3rd consecutive +1MMT week. Pre-report estimates were looking for between 800k MT to 1.4 MMT. The data had Japan and Mexico as the top buyers for the week each with over 200k MT, and included a previously reported 110k MT sale to Taiwan. Total corn commitments were up to 1.594 bbu. That is 27% above last year’s pace – the WASDE balance sheet has full year exports forecasted 26.4% above last year’s total. There were no new crop bookings for the week, new crop forward sales remain at 1.62 MMT vs 1.86 MMT at the same time last year. 

The weekly milo bookings were 5,700 MT exclusively to China. Old crop commitments were marked at 4.94 MMT as of 3/7. That is 228% above last year’s pace –the WASDE balance sheet has full year exports forecasted at +125% yr/yr after the 5 mbu increase in the March report. 

Weekly EIA data showed ethanol production averaged 1.024m barrels per day during the week that ended 3/8. 

May 24 Corn  closed at $4.33 3/4, down 7 1/2 cents,

Nearby Cash   was $4.08 5/8, down 7 1/8 cents,

Jul 24 Corn  closed at $4.46 1/4, down 7 1/4 cents,

Dec 24 Corn  closed at $4.67 3/4, down 5 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.