Corn Morning Update & Commentary: Export sales were much better than expected
<div class=\"default-font-wrapper\" style=\"line-height: 1;font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;\"><div style=\"line-height: 1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;\">Corn Morning Update & Commentary:<br id=\"isPasted\">Overnight, the corn market was quietly mixed, finishing steady to fractionally better by the morning pause. Heading into “Synthetic Friday”, corn is trending toward small losses for the short week, which is not bad following the best week the market has seen in nearly a year. The weekly export sales report helped the market pare developing losses early morning; net sales of 1.562 million metric tons (mmt) easily blew away expectations and nearly doubled the prior week tally. Mexico, Japan, Spain, Colombia, and Panama, were all buyers. Shipments for the period were also pegged at a marketing year high? Corn sold/shipped for the current marketing year moves up to 56.6 mmt, meaningfully better than the prior year period’s 44.7 mmt (and is comfortably on track to meet the USDA’s recently upgraded sales target of 64.8 mmt). Elsewhere, the U.S.-Japan meeting made ‘big progress’ but ultimately did not reach a deal with a second meeting set? We are heading into a three day weekend; there were no 8 AM sales today and Cattle on Feed report is due this afternoon. Weather remains a neutral to mildly bearish input as we wait to see how Brazil rain coverage shakes out later this month. U.S. planters should be rolling in the west?<br> <br>Corn futures bounced back after a two day correction, finishing Wednesday 2-3 cents higher. Funds are believed net long close to 90,000 contracts with a CFTC update pending Friday (yes, even with the holiday). Cash trade was mixed. The weekly EIA report was mildly friendly to ethanol but lacked the bullish fireworks many expected. Weekly ethanol production slipped -1% wk/wk; the resulting 1.012 mil bbl/day rate sustained over a marketing year would utilize 5.3 billion bushels of corn. Blender demand rebounded nicely (+3%), despite soft gasoline product supplied (a proxy for demand). Reported ethanol exports relaxed after a strong prior week (137k bbl/day vs. 174k prior). Ethanol stocks featured a small draw of -0.8% to 26.8 million barrels (1.126 billion gallons). Ethanol futures were not impressed, selling off 2-3 cents post-EIA, erasing most of this week’s crush gains. We think an average Midwest plant is doing slightly better than breakeven today, net of all costs. Under separate cover, weekly broiler hatchery data found broiler eggs set and chicks placed each fractionally higher on a yr/yr basis, maintaining recent trends. <br> <br> <br>QT News - Top News<br> <br>**USDA Corn 24/25 Export Sales Net (04/10): 1,561,900 mt; 25/26 Net: 10,000 mt; expected 600k-2.1 mln<br> <br>**USDA Sorghum (Total) 24/25 Export Sales Net (04/10): 11,500 mt; 25/26 Net: NONE mt<br> <br> <br> <br>-- Jordan's state grain trader on Thursday, set April 23rd as the offer deadline in a tender seeking up to 120,000 mt of feed Barley. The grain is for shipment between August 1 to September 30.<br> <br>-- International Grains Council (IGC) on Thursday raised their 25/26 global Corn production forecast to 1.274 bln mt, up +5.0 mln mt from the previous forecast<br> <br> <br> <br>Pending Tenders<br> <br>-- Pending Tender: Trade sources Wednesday (4/16) reported Iran is seeking 120,000 mt of feed Corn in a tender to close on April 21st. The grain is for shipment in June and/or July. Sources accepted include Brazil, Europe, Ukraine, Turkey or Russia.<br> <br>-- Pending Tender: Trade sources Wednesday (4/16) reported Iran is seeking 120,000 mt of feed Barley in a tender to close on April 21st. The grain is for shipment in June and/or July. Sources accepted include Europe, Ukraine, Turkey or Russia.<br> <br> <br> <br>-- Euronext Paris June corn futures on Thursday are trading +1.00 euro higher at 205.75 euros/mt<br> <br>-- Dalian July corn futures on Thursday traded -4 yuan lower ending at 2,303 yuan/mt</span></div></div>