Corn (P) Futures PricesWednesday, May 23rd, 2012

Corn futures are trading steady to 1/2 cent lower on most contracts with the spot month 1/4 cents higher this morning. This market is getting help from the recently higher wheat prices which make corn a better buy for feed use this summer than was anticipated by the USDA. If the spread remains premium the wheat, this could mean tighter corn stocks. Weekly ethanol production rose to 919,000 barrels per day. More firms are raising corn use over the 5 billion bushels mark for the year. Plant margins appear black but thin, while blend margins are good. Ethanol stocks are at 21.4 million barrels. Trade estimates call for USDA to show weekly corn export sales of 1.0-1.3 MMT this morning but will be disappointing with USDA putting the actual net sales at 156,100 MT for 2012/12 marketing year and 325,900 MT for 2012/13 marketing year. Corn on the Dalian was a penny higher.