Corn price action is showing fractionally mixed trade so far on Thursday morning. Futures were pushing higher into the Wednesday close, as contracts were 2 to 3 cents higher in the nearbys. Open interest was down just 848 contracts on Wednesday. The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price was up 2 ½ cents at $4.08 3/4. 

EIA data from Wednesday showed ethanol production in the week ending on January 2 slowing 22,000 barrels per day wk/wk to 1.098 million bpd. Despite the reduction in output, stocks rose 708,000 barrels to 22.652 million barrels. That came as exports were down 35,000 bpd to 113,000 bpd, though refiner inputs of ethanol were a bigger issue, dropping 117,000 bpd to 771,000 bpd. That is a seasonal pattern once the holidays roll around.

Export Sales data will be released this morning, with traders looking for 0.7-1.5 MMT in 2025/26 corn sales during the week of 1/1. Sales for 2026/27 are seen 0-100,000 MT. 

USDA will release a slew of data on Monday, with the Crop Production report expected to show US corn production at 16.553 bbu, as yield is estimated at 184 bpa according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. 

Mar 26 Corn  closed at $4.46 3/4, up 2 3/4 cents, currently unch

Nearby Cash  was $4.08 3/4, up 2 1/2 cents,

May 26 Corn  closed at $4.54, up 2 3/4 cents, currently down 1/4 cents

Jul 26 Corn  closed at $4.59 3/4, up 2 3/4 cents, currently up 1/4 cents

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