The corn market is slipping back lower so far on Friday, with losses of 2 to 5 cents. Futures rallied back on Thursday, with contracts closing 4 to 5 cents higher in the front months. Contracts closed off the highs, but still clawed back some of the Wednesday losses. Preliminary open interest was up 5,216 contracts, mainly in the July through December contracts. There were no deliveries for March futures overnight, with the contract expiring today. The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price was up 4 1/2 cents at $4.27 3/4.
Thursday’s Export Sales report showed 967,348 MT of corn sold in the week ending on 3/6, a 3-week high but still 24.6% below the same week last year. Mexico was still the largest buyer of 431,600 MT in the back and forth tariff week, with 194,100 MT sold to Japan. Unknown destinations saw net reductions of 285,900 MT, mostly switched to a destination. New crop sales were tallied at just 13,399 MT.
Total export commitments for the US are now 50.535 MMT, which is 35% above the same time period last year. This is also 81% of USDA’s export projection compared to the average sales pace of 80%.
The Rosario Grains exchange cut back its Argentina corn estimate by 1.5 MMT ton 44.5 MT. CONAB’s latest update to the Brazilian corn crop showed a 122.76 MMT estimate, up 0.75 MMT, even as the second crop was trimmed 0.54 MMT to 95.51 MMT.
There were more South Korean import purchase overnight, with two different importers buying a total of 207,000 MT.
Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.53 1/2, up 4 3/4 cents, currently down 10 1/4 cents
Nearby Cash was $4.27 3/4, up 4 1/2 cents,
May 25 Corn closed at $4.65 1/4, up 4 1/2 cents, currently down 5 1/2 cents
Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.52 1/4, up 4 cents, currently down 2 cents
New Crop Cash was $4.16 1/2, up 4 cents,
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder 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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