Friday Corn Futures Close Higher
Corn prices finished in the black after report day Corn futures are near their overnight lows so far on fractionally to 3 ¼ cent losses this morning prepping for the monthly USDA Supply/Demand estimates release at 11 AM CST. The front month corn prices were 7 ½ to 9 ½ cents higher at the close on Thursday. May futures prices saw a 10 ½ cent range almost entirely in the black on the day. Preliminary OI showed short covering in May (-4.3k) and net new buying in Dec (+1k). CME also had 7.8k new calls added yesterday with 5k fewer puts across the corn complex.
CFTC reported a strong liquidation from the corn specs during the week that ended 3/5. The 43k fewer contracts reduced their net long by 10.7k contracts to 11.4k contracts. The funds were 1.5k contracts more net short at 296.8k contracts after a slight positional change for the week.
Only change for domestic corn S&Ds was a nickel worse cash average price, now at $4.75. Most traders were looking for tighter carryover, though no change was recognized by USDA. The WAOB tightened global corn production by 2.3 MMT. That was by a 1.3 MMT cut to South Africa, Ukraine was 1 MMT tighter and Russia was trimmed by 400k MT. USDA raised Argentina’s production by 1 MMT and left Brazil unchanged. The surprise was for a 1 MMT larger export total for Ukraine, despite the 2.8 MMT carry-in and lower production forecast. Total global stocks were revised 2.4 MMT tighter to 319.6 MMT – compared to the average trade guess of -1.2 MMT.
Mar 24 Corn closed at $4.26 1/4, up 1/4 cent,
Nearby Cash was $4.12 1/4, up 1 7/8 cents,
May 24 Corn closed at $4.39 3/4, up 1 3/4 cents,
Jul 24 Corn closed at $4.51 3/4, up 2 1/4 cents,
Dec 24 Corn closed at $4.72, up 3 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.
