Corn prices witnessed a modest increase of 2 to 3 cents during Thursday morning trading. However, the upward trend seemed to falter, as futures experienced a decline of 3 to 4 cents on Wednesday, with contracts for the soon-to-expire December contract dropping 6 cents. Notably, open interest saw a significant rise, climbing by 12,138 contracts on the same day.
In recent market activity, 22 deliveries were issued against the December corn contract overnight. According to the CmdtyView national average, the cash corn price stood at $3.99, reflecting a decrease of 3.5 cents.
Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed that ethanol production in the United States amounted to 1.105 million barrels per day during the week ending December 5. This figure marked a decrease of 21,000 barrels per day from the previous record. Despite the reduced production rate, ethanol stocks saw a minor pullback of just 1,000 barrels, bringing the total to 22.51 million barrels for that week. Refiner inputs of ethanol also saw a decline, decreasing by 6,000 barrels per day to 851,000, while exports dropped notably by 45,000 barrels per day, totaling 125,000.
On Wednesday afternoon, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its long-awaited Grain Crushings report, detailing that the corn grind for September was 435.36 million bushels, down 2.66% from the previous year. The report also covered October’s corn grind, which showed a rise to 476.4 million bushels, up 2.76% compared to last year. Overall, corn usage for ethanol during the first two months of the marketing year increased by 1 million bushels year-over-year.
The export sales data is set for another update on Thursday morning, as traders anticipate between 0.8 and 2 million metric tons in corn sales for the week ending November 13. In a related market sentiment release from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), data showed that corn speculators reduced their net short positions by 31,993 contracts, bringing the total to 39,523 contracts as of November 10.
On the international front, it was reported that a Taiwanese importer secured a purchase of 65,000 metric tons of U.S. corn in a recent tender.
Additionally, updated reports from Brazil’s National Supply Company (CONAB) indicated that Brazilian corn production expectations had slightly increased to 138.88 million metric tons, up by 0.04 million metric tons from previous estimates.
In the futures market, December 25 corn concluded at $4.34 3/4, declining by 6 cents but showing a slight recovery of 5 1/4 cents subsequently. Nearby cash prices settled at $3.99, down 3 1/2 cents, while the March 26 corn closed at $4.44 1/4, down 3 3/4 cents, with a current uptick of 2 3/4 cents. May 26 corn also reflected similar trends, closing at $4.51 3/4, down 3 3/4 cents, but currently up by 2 1/2 cents.
