May 5, 2008

 

CBOT Corn Outlook on Monday: Corn down slightly on overnight losses

 

 

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures are expected to open down 2-3 cents Monday following overnight losses.

 

May corn was down 3 1/2 cents overnight to US$5.98 1/2 per bushel, July corn was down 3 cents to US$6.10 1/2 and December corn was down 1 3/4 cents to US$6.27 3/4.

 

Sid Love, of Kropf and Love Consulting in Kansas, said the market was "all over the place" overnight. He was one of a couple analysts who said Monday morning that corn is feeling pressure from the growing political backlash against ethanol. Love noted that all of the presidential candidates are talking about ethanol and its effect on food prices.

 

"People didn't realize corn was the wheel around which everything else revolved," Love said of the initial push for ethanol.

 

Weather, and how forecasts will affect planting, continue to dominate the market, analysts and traders said.

 

Love noted there was plenty of bad weather over the weekend.

 

"We're getting late in planting the corn, and the crop may be smaller," he said.

 

But a floor trader said the weather might have allowed for more planting than expected.

 

Traders and analysts said they are expecting today's U.S. Agriculture Department's crop progress report to show 25% to 30% planted, although estimates have ranged as low as 20% and as high as 35%.

 

The DTN Meteorlogix forecast calls for scattered showers Monday night in the western U.S. Midwest, with more scattered showers and thunderstorms tomorrow. Thursday and Friday are expected to be dry, but temperatures will be below normal.

 

In other news, private exporters reported sales of 116,000 metric tonnes of corn to unknown destinations in the 2007-2008 marketing year, the USDA reported. Exporters also reported delivering 105,664 metric tonnes to Japan for the 2007-08 marketing year and 56,896 metric tonnes for the 2008-09 marketing year.