Corn futures experienced a notable downturn during Thursday’s trading session, with contracts falling by 6 to 8 cents in most front months. This decline was part of a broader sell-off across the agricultural commodities sector, driven by a risk-off sentiment among investors.
The latest report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed a significant increase in ethanol production, which rose by 49,000 barrels per day for the week ending May 24th. This brought the weekly average daily production to 1.068 million barrels. However, ethanol stocks fell to 23.207 million barrels, a decrease of 1.005 million barrels from the previous week, marking the lowest level since mid-December. Ethanol exports surged to a record 212,000 barrels per day, the highest since the EIA began tracking this data last May.
Looking ahead, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is set to release its Export Sales report on Friday morning. Expectations are for old crop corn sales for the week ending May 23rd to range between 0.6 to 1 million metric tons (MMT). New crop sales are anticipated to be between 0 to 400,000 metric tons (MT).
In specific contract settlements:
July 2024 Corn closed at $4.48 3/4, down 6 1/2 cents.
Nearby Cash settled at $4.29 3/8, down 6 1/4 cents.
September 2024 Corn finished at $4.57 3/4, down 7 1/4 cents.
December 2024 Corn ended at $4.71, down 7 3/4 cents.
New Crop Cash closed at $4.35 5/8, down 8 3/4 cents.
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Price Limits: Daily Limit For Corn Futures