November 25, 2005

 

CBOT Corn Outlook on Friday: Steady, following overnight trade

  

 

Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade are expected start Friday's holiday shortened trading session steady, following the tone set overnight with some traders absent extending their Thanksgiving holiday. Trading will end at 12:00 CST (1800 GMT).

 

In overnight e-CBOT trading, December corn finished unchanged at US$1.90 3/4 per bushel, March also ended flat at US$2.04 1/4, and May slipped 1/2 cent to US$2.12 per bushel.

 

The market looks to have a quiet session unless something unexpected happens, said one analyst. Overnight the session was flat and although weekly exports were at the high end of the range, sales still suggest a slow pace. In addition, China reported another case of bird flu.

 

However, one positive remains the basis as farmers continue to be unwilling to part with any cash corn, he noted.

 

Corn weekly export sales were 1,032,800 metric tonnes for the week ended Nov. 17, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported, slightly above the 800,000-1,000,000 million metric tonnes expected by analysts. Major customers included Japan, Mexico and Taiwan.

 

China exported 400,797 metric tonnes of corn in October and exports totaled 7.55 million metric tonnes in the period from January through October, according to China's customs department.

 

China reported another outbreak of bird flu in the northern Inner Mongolia region, the Agricultural Ministry reported Friday, bringing the total number of outbreaks in the country in recent weeks to at least 22 cases.

 

Cash corn basis bids were mostly higher Friday morning. Central Illinois was 3 cents higher at 8 cents over December futures, while St. Louis was unchanged at 14 cents over December futures.

 

On technical charts, analysts peg first resistance for March corn at US$2.06, this week's high and then at US$2.08. First support is pegged at Wednesday's contract low of US$2.04, and then at US$2.03.

 

In other corn news, the Korea Feed Association bought 105,000 metric tonnes of U.S. No. 3 grade corn from Cargill and Mitsubishi this week, South Korean traders said Friday.

 

Corn futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange ended higher with the most active May contract up RMB4/tonne to RMB1,250/tonne.