October 28, 2005

 

CBOT Corn Review on Thursday: Ends weaker on lack of fresh inputs

 

 

Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade ended fractionally lower Thursday, after trading within extremely narrow ranges as the market continues to grind its way lower, setting new contract lows in December and March for the fifth session in a row.

 

December corn settled 1/2 cent lower at US$1.97 3/4 per bushel, March corn declined 1/2 cent to US$2.11 1/4, and May corn also fell 1/2 cent to US$2.20.

 

"The commercials are letting the market come to them," a commission house broker said. "Export sales were disappointing and there remains little reason to buy it here."

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported weekly corn exports at 718,400 metric tonnes, below analysts' expectations of 1.0 million to 1.15 million metric tonnes.

 

Total sales commitments through Oct. 20 are running almost 11% behind last year's sales pace.

 

The market continues to struggle with what is expected to be the second- largest corn crop in history, following last year's record crop. Beginning stocks from 2004-05 remain formidable and storage space is tight as producers scramble to harvest a 2005-06 crop estimated at 10.857 billion bushels.

 

Favorable harvest weather is forecast for the next several days in much of the U.S. Midwest, according to DTN Meteorlogix weather,

 

Light fund selling added to the losses, sources said, with commodity fund selling estimated at 1,000 contracts Thursday.

 

Buyers on Thursday included Cargill buying 200 May and 400 December, Fimat buying 800 December and 400 March, R.J. O'Brien buying 100 May and 300 December and Tenco buying 200 March and 200 July.

 

Sellers Thursday included Cargill selling 600 March, FC Stone selling 200 December, Citigroup selling 1,000 December, Fimat selling 400 December and 100 May, Man Financial selling 200 December, R.J. O'Brien selling 500 December and Tenco selling 500 March and 200 December.

 

In options trading, Cargill sold 500 March US$2.10 calls and ADM sold 500 December US$2.30 puts.

 

Oat futures recovered from earlier technical weakness to finish near unchanged with the December contract slipping 1/4 cent to US$1.63 per bushel.

 

Ethanol futures settled mixed. The January contract did not trade and finished unchanged at US$1.90 cents per gallon.