Strong U.S. Export Performance And Ethanol Production Support Corn Price

 | Feb 10, 2017 07:45AM ET

Corn prices advance on strong US export performance and ethanol production. Will the price of corn continue rising?

China’s Ministry of Agriculture downgraded its imports forecast for the 2016-2017 crop year that ends in September by 200,000 tonnes from previous estimate to as low as 800,000 tonnes. However the US Department of Agriculture expects imports at 3 million tonnes.

Lower import demand will be bearish for corn prices as China tries to draw down its state corn reserve after the government abandoned its longstanding price support program last year. On the other hand, strong US export performance and demand for corn for ethanol production provides support for corn prices: US ethanol production last week was at a still-strong 1.055m barrels a day while down 6000 barrels a day from the previous week's record.

This translates into annualised use of corn for ethanol at a record 5.576bn bushels compares with a current USDA estimate for the full 2016-17 of 5.325bn bushels.