Corn Market Recap for 1/25/2006 March Corn finished up 3 1/4 at 216 1/2, 1 3/4 off the high and 1 1/2 up from the low. May Corn closed up 2 3/4 at 226. This was 1 1/4 up from the low and 2 off the high.
Fund traders were aggressive buyers with talk of close to 10,000 contracts purchases in the first 25 minutes of trade and 15,000 contracts by mid-session. Talk that Deutsche Bank launched a new commodity index fund composed of grains, metals and energies helped spark the surge higher. There is also talk of strong demand for corn due to drought conditions in the southern plains, increased corn sweetener demand due to soaring sugar prices and increased industrial demand due to high gasoline prices. Alfalfa hay prices in Kansas have jumped from near $50/tonne in early December to $105/tonne this week. Open interest hit a record high for corn which added to the bullish tone. In the last Commitment-of-Traders report with options, non-reportable traders were net short near 80,000 contracts. For the weekly export sales report, released before the opening, traders are looking for corn sales near 800,000-1.3 million tonnes as compared with 1.22 million last week. Near-term support for March corn comes in at 214 1/2 and 210 with 218 3/4 and 221 as resistance.
March Rice finished up 0.01 at 8.475, 0.025 off the high and 0.055 up from the low.
