Morning Corn Update & Commentary: Overnight, the corn market was quietly mixed, finishing near the flat-line by the morning pause. The report-du-jour is the weekly export sales, and to little surprise it was unimpressive for the grains. Old crop corn featured net cancellations....

Morning Corn Update &amp; Commentary:

Overnight, the corn market was quietly mixed, finishing near the flat-line by the morning pause. The report-du-jour is the weekly export sales, and to little surprise it was unimpressive for the grains. Old crop corn featured net cancellations of -75,200, while new crop chipped in a positive +52,100 metric tons, leaving net sales very close to flat for the week. The story of course is the China and 'unknown' cancellations in old crop (331,600 and 216,700, respectively), offset by small traditional buyers such as Japan and Mexico. Old crop sold and shipped moves to 38 million metric tons (mmt) versus 59 mmt last year. New crop corn commitments stand 2.75 mmt, which is one-half the level seen by this time last year (and a whopping 9 mmt in 2021). Moving along, the song mostly remains the same elsewhere, too; warm/dry weather forecasts into early June will help wrap-up spring fieldwork, but will also increase the importance that follow-up rains appear shortly thereafter. Outside markets have a continued split between concern over the debt ceiling and enthusiasm over &quot;AI&quot; and &quot;Big Tech&quot; earnings. Crude Oil is trying to correct some today after a strong showing most of the week? There was no 8 AM 'flash' activity as we went to press, and there is a long weekend coming (markets closed Monday, re-opening that night).

Overall, another modestly positive trade for the corn market Wednesday, though the pack had a clear leader. July finished the day nearly ten cents higher, while new crop months ended around three cents better. Funds were estimated net buyers of another 5,000 lots, which would leave them net short 95,000 delta-adjusted corn, via disaggregated CFTC reporting. Cash trade was steady or firmer, headlined by 2-6 cent gains at the Gulf. The ethanol data in the weekly EIA report again held mostly friendly feature for that market. Ethanol production slipped -0.5% to a 0.983 mil bbl/day rate, which was close to our forecast. Over a marketing year, such a rate would utilize 5.20 billion bushels of corn, which is slightly below the current marketing year to date average. Blender demand rebounded over +2%, which helped ethanol stocks draw down again, falling another -5% this week to 22.0 million barrels. Since a mid-March peak (which was nearly a record high), ethanol stocks have declined more than -16%. Ethanol futures surprisingly did not extend much on the bullish data, but current crush margins already imply some of the best profitability seen over the past year-and-a-half. The weekly USDA report found broiler-type egg sets down 1% yr/yr, and broiler chicks placed also down -1% yr/yr. Despite the yr/yr declines, both numbers have been trending higher over the past month.

QT News - Top News

**USDA Corn 22/23 Export Sales Net (05/18): -75,200 mt; 23/24 Net: 52,100 mt; expected -500k-700k mt

**USDA Sorghum (Total) 22/23 Export Sales Net (5/18): 5,700 mt; 23/24 Export Sales Net: NONE mt

-- A UN official said they are working with the African Export-Import bank as a means to ease Russian grain and fertilizer export transactions to African nations.

-- On Thursday, the EU agreed to suspend restrictions for another year on Ukraine imports. Back in June 2022 the EU lifted tariffs and other restrictions for another 12 months. The EU and Ukraine signed a free trade agreement that's been applied since 2016.

-- Shipping sources Thursday said tug rescues were able to refloat a large vessel that had become stuck in the Suez Canal today, adding that traffic has resumed to a normal pace.

USDA Cold Storage Headline Recap

USDA Cold Storage April 30: Pork Bellies: 81.177 mln lbs

USDA Cold Storage April 30: TTL Pork Stocks: 565.479 mln lbs

USDA Cold Storage April 30: TTL Beef Stocks: 447.984 mln lbs

USDA Cold Storage April 30: TTL Chicken Stocks: 830.290 mln lbs

USDA Cold Storage April 30: FCOJ: 363.714 mln lbs

Pending Tenders

-- Pending Tender: Grain traders on Monday reported 56,000 mt of US mill grade Wheat is sought by Taiwan Flour Millers' Assn. Offers are due by May 26th. The grain is for shipment between July 12th and July 26th. They are seeking HRW, DNS, and white wheat.

-- Euronext Paris June corn futures on Thursday are trading -0.25 euro lower at 218.50 euros/mt

-- Dalian July corn futures traded -3 yuan lower ending at 2,565 yuan/mt

-- Outside markets. Crude Oil -$1.47 ; Gold -$3.30 ; Silver -15.5c ; US $ index +24 pts