By 1pm US Eastern time, the May corn futures contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange added 5 cents per bushel to $4.66 per bu. The July contract was up by 4 cents per bu to $4.74 per bu.
Asian and South Korean corn futures
In Asia, futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange moved higher. The May contract increased by 18 yuan per tonne to close at 2,336 yuan ($321) per tonne. In addition, the July contract rose by 17 yuan per tonne to 2,377 yuan per tonne.
South Korean buyers booked 263,000 tonnes of corn on Wednesday in tenders and private deals.
NOFI purchased 65,000 tonnes from Pan Ocean for August 5 arrival at $248.70 per tonne CFR and a Panamax cargo from CJ International for August 20. This was split between a flat price and a premium over the September CME contract.
The Feed Leaders Committee (FLC) bought 66,000 tonnes from ADM at $248.49 per tonne CFR for July-August shipment.
Feed Buying Group (FBG) secured 65,000 tonnes from Mitsui at $248.69 per tonne CFR Incheon for June–July. Both cargoes were likely from US Pacific ports.
Ukrainian and Russian developments
In Ukraine, corn prices were unchanged on the internal DAP market as well as on the FOB basis.
Sellers ideas were heard at $252-255 per tonne for the May-June shipment FOB Pivdennyi-Odesa-Chornomorsk (POC), while buyers were steady. Bids were reported in the range of $248-250 per tonne FOB.
On a DAP POC basis, buyers were showing solid interest at $241 per tonne for spot and May delivery.
Russia’s spring grain planting reached 25.8% of the total forecast 28.83 million hectares for 2025. This was as of Tuesday, with 7.44 million ha sown – up by 1.93 million ha, or 35%, from the 5.51 million ha planted by the corresponding period in 2024, according to data from the Russian Ministry of Agriculture.
Corn futures in South America
In South America, Argentina’s corn moved lower across the curve. This was with the exception of June-loading contracts, which moved in the opposite direction.
Fastmarkets’ assessment of the FOB premium for June loading was 82 cents per bu over July CME futures, up by 2 cents per bu.
Brazil’s corn market was flat. And Fastmarkets’ assessment of the FOB premium for June loading was unchanged at 92 cents per bu over July CME futures.
Brazil’s 2024/25 summer corn crop harvest reached 71.9% of the planted area of 3.7 million ha in the week to Saturday April 26. This shows a weekly progress of 3.7 percentage points. This is according to the national food agency Conab’s weekly crop progress report, published late on Monday April 28.
The figure is above the 63.1% completion rate a year earlier. And the average of 68.1% from the past five years.
Brazilian grain exporters’ association Anec raised its estimates for corn exports in April to 48,263 tonnes from 48,094 tonnes last week.
The new forecast is lower than the 76,655 tonnes shipped in the corresponding month last year, the association’s weekly report showed on Tuesday.
US corn and ethanol market updates
In the US, CIF Gulf premiums for May loading were reported up by 2 cents per bu from Tuesday, around 77 cents per bu over the May CME futures contract, and FOB Gulf premiums for the same month were reported around 82 cents per bu over the same underlying contract.
US FOB Pacific Northwest (PNW) premiums for May loading were reported steady around $1.01 per bu over the May CME futures contract.
US ethanol production rose by 7,000 barrels per day to 1.040 million bpd in the week to Friday April 25. It consumed around 2.68 million tonnes of corn, up from 2.66 million tonnes the previous week.
Ethanol stocks fell by 92,000 barrels to 25.389 million barrels. This was according to EIA data released on Wednesday.
Want to unlock more corn and agricultural insights? Request a demo of our platform.
