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,
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