March Corn closed 2 ¾ cents higher ($3.74), July 2 ½ cents higher ($3.90) & Dec 2 ¾ cents higher ($3.99 ¼)
February Chgo Ethanol closes 0.010 cents a gallon lower ($1.262) & March 0.010 cents lower ($1.281)
Weekly Ethanol Grind – 1.051 million bpd vs. 1.000 bpd previous week – Stocks – 23.3 million bbls vs. 23.2 million bbls previous week
Flat price gives us a minor rebound from Tuesday’s sharp looking sell-off. Tuesday night gave us a slightly higher gap opening that was never tested. Overnight it was reported that S. Korea bought 260.0 K T. of corn; most thought to be from the US. Adding to the modest daily strength were ideas that Tuesday’s break was technically overdone. This in turn prompted a revival that the break may attract some goodwill Chinese buying ahead of their end of the month meeting with US trade delegates. I will say I continue to see daily trades down at the Gulf. The timing of these trades coincides with the idea that Brazil will slow down its corn exports to focus on new crop soybean exports.
Interior cash corn markets (basis) mostly run steady on the day. I did see minor flip-flops from river locations that feed to the Gulf. Decatur, IL does back off on its advertised corn basis by 1 cent. The Gulf is looking at its best basis seen in some time. The “however” to that is the recent break in the flat price. Corn spreads continue to flirt with contract lows but did see some fractional improvement on the day within the current crop year. Old crop runs mixed to a touch easier vs. the new crop.
From a technical point of view today’s minor inside day of Tuesday does little to instill any faith that the corn market has gone low enough for now. Funds/specs are still considered to be a modest long and they are not getting much help in reinforcing those positions. The bottomline remains that corn market is in a broad 45 cent trading range currently just below midrange. Volatility continues to be rather low which in turn limits any major move in either direction.
Daily Support & Resistance for 01/17
Mch Corn: $3.71 – $3.77 July Corn: $3.87 – $3.93
The risk of trading futures and options can be substantial. Each investor must consider whether this is a suitable investment. Past performance is not indicative of future results.