Corn prices rose on US crop tour data, but remained under pressure from lower demand

According to day two of ProFarmer's Midwest Crop Tour, average corn yields in Indiana will be 180.89 bushels/acre and Nebraska will average 167.22 bushels/acre, up 1.54% and 2.78%. accordingly, it will be inferior to the average 3-year indicator.

December corn futures on the Chicago Stock Exchange rose 2.3% to $193.1/t yesterday on crop tour data of a lower-than-expected yield. Prices are also pressured by a reduction in the volume of ethanol processing and a drop in export demand.

During the week of August 11-17, the export of corn from the USA decreased in comparison with the same period last year by 70% to 482.5 thousand tons, and in total in the season amounted to 36.1 million tons (53.9 million tons last year).

According to the weekly report of the EIA association, the average daily production of ethanol in the period of August 12-18 decreased in comparison with the previous week by 2% to 1.048 million barrels/day, and its reserves decreased by 645 thousand barrels to 22.79 million barrels.

The General Administration of Customs of China reported that corn imports in July increased by 9% compared to July 2022 to 1.7 million tons, and in total in 2023 reached 13.7 million tons, which is 9% lower than in January-July 2022 p.

Awaiting data from StatsCan, analysts estimate the corn harvest in Canada at 13.9-15.7 million tons, an average of 14.8 million tons compared to 14.54 million tons last year.

Against the background of unfavorable weather in the south-east of the EU, MARS experts lowered the corn yield forecast compared to July estimates from 7.53 to 7.45 t/ha.

But on the Paris exchange, November corn futures rose just 0.5% yesterday to €216.5/t or $235.3/t (-14.8% on the month), barely reacting to lower yield estimates .