CBOT corn closed with mixed ups and downs

Chicago, October 17th News: On Thursday, corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) closed with mixed gains and losses within a narrow range, with the benchmark period closing up about 0.5% due to new export sales.

As of the close, corn futures rose by 2 cents to fell by 1 cent, with the 12-month futures rising by about 2 cents to close at 406.75 cents per bushel; The March period rose by approximately 0.75 cents, closing at 421.25 cents per bushel; The May period is expected to close flat, with a yield of 428.75 cents per bushel.

The most active trading range for the 12-month term is between 399 cents and 407.50 cents.

The daily export sales report released by the US Department of Agriculture shows that private exporters reported selling 197180 tons of corn to Mexico and 101000 tons to unknown destinations for delivery in 2024/25.

The relatively dry weather in the Midwest region continues to drive the rapid progress of autumn grain harvesting in the United States.

The International Grains Council maintains the global corn production estimate for 2024/25 at 1.224 billion tons in its latest monthly report. The production estimates for the United States and India have been slightly raised, but offset by the decline in production from Russia and Egypt. The year-end corn inventory for 2024/25 will be increased by 3 million tons to 279 million tons.

According to a report from the US Energy Information Administration, after three consecutive weeks of decline, US ethanol inventories rose slightly from 22.2 million barrels the previous week to 22.3 million barrels in the week ending October 11th, 1.2 million barrels higher than the same period last year. The ethanol production this week has remained almost unchanged, at 1.04 million barrels per day. This data is within the expected range of the market.

The US Department of Agriculture will release its weekly export sales report on Friday. Analysts speculate that the export sales volume of corn for the week ending October 10th was between 1.2 and 2.2 million tons, compared to 1.22 million tons a week ago.

On Thursday, the estimated trading volume for the benchmark period was 235542 lots, compared to 194865 lots on the previous trading day. The short position is 756853 lots, compared to 754065 lots on the previous trading day.