Corn Prices Surge Amid Weaker Yields and Ethanol Production Drop

Corn prices are rallying to near their spring highs after weaker yields from the ProFarmer Crop Tour, which showed Illinois corn yields averaging 184.19 bushels per acre down 7.71% from last year and 7.52% below the three-year average.

The western Three districts of Iowa were pegged at 189.73 to 191.8 bpa, all below their respective tour averages last year. The USDA will release Export Sales data this morning, with traders looking for a total of 0-500,000 MT of old crop corn sold in the week of August 13.

New crop business is seen between net sales of 0.5 to 1.3 MMT. Ethanol production saw a 28,000 barrel per day drop to 1.089 million barrels for the week ending on August 14, while stocks were up 323,000 barrels to 25.121 million barrels.

Refiner inputs of ethanol were up 11,000 bpd to 926,000 bpd. The September contract closed at $4.73, up 9 3/4 cents, currently up 5 1/2 cents. Nearby Cash was $4.45 1/2, up 10 cents.