Corn price action is up 1 to 2 ½ cents in the front months on Thursday morning. Futures saw some buying off the early overnight lows, but still managed to close with losses of 1 ¾ to 3 ½ cents. Open interest suggested longs were exiting on Wednesday, down 8,641 contracts on the losses. The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price was down1 1/2 cents at $4.08. Crude oil was down $16.45 on the day following a 2-week ceasefire between Iran and the US that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. It is back up $4.55 this morning as traffic has been limited.
EIA data from Wednesday morning showed ethanol at a total of 1.116 million barrels per day in the week ending on 4/3. That was a 41,000 bpd increase on the week. Stocks saw a 62,000 barrel increase, to 26.053 million barrels. Exports were up 80,000 bpd to 203,000 bpd, as refiner inputs were down 8,000 bpd to 895,000 bpd.
Export Sales data will be released on Thursday, with analysts looking for 0.75-1.6 MMT in old crop corn commitments. New crop is seen 0-100,000 MT.
Ahead of the Thursday WASDE update, analysts surveyed by Bloomberg are looking for a slight increase (3mbu) from March to 2.13 bbu for the US carryout projection. World ending stocks are seen 0.4 MMT higher to 293.2 MMT.
South Korean importers purchased 136,000 MT of corn in tenders overnight, following the purchases from Wednesday.
May 26 Corn closed at $4.47 1/4, down 1 3/4 cents, currently up 2 1/2 cents
Nearby Cash was $4.08, down 1 1/2 cents,
Jul 26 Corn closed at $4.58, down 2 cents, currently up 2 1/4 cents
Dec 26 Corn closed at $4.76, down 2 cents, currently up 1 3/4 cents
New Crop Cash was $4.33 3/8, down 2 cents,
