GRAND FORKS, ND -- (Marketwired) -- 04/05/13 -- In a welcome move for corn buyers, the U.S. corn market dropped dramatically in recent days on news of higher-than-expected corn inventories. "Right across the board from ethanol to livestock to food processing, this lower price is bringing a lot of relief," said Darrel Good, University of Illinois agriculture economist. "What this report confirms is that rationing has taken place and it appears we have ample supplies to get through the rest of the marketing year."
"Lower corn prices are improving the situation for ethanol producers who've been operating on slim margins for many months. Spot cash margins have improved quite a bit," Good says. "We follow the wholesale CBOB and ethanol prices at Chicago and they've tracked pretty well through the current time period. That's one reason ethanol margins got hammered, because ethanol prices didn't move up as much as corn prices did." The improvement in margins and futures spreads is providing opportunities for risk managers to lock in positive returns. Yet, even as the futures market dropped, the local basis -- the difference between the nearby futures price and local cash price -- strengthened. "The basis continues to be strong in most areas, probably record strong," Good said. "It has strengthened a bit as futures prices have turned lower recently. In central Illinois we've strengthened two or three cents on the basis in recent days."
The corn market took off nearly $1 a bushel since the March 28 USDA Grain Stocks report that put March 1 corn stocks at 5.40 billion bushels in all positions. The inventory numbers were significantly higher than the expected 4.99 billion bushels reported by Bloomberg analysts. "The unusually large price move was partly a correction for a 50 cent increase in anticipation of the report," Good explained. "The volume of trades also indicated we had a lot of people running for the door to get out of their long positions." Most often, when the market has that violent of a reaction, he added, there will quickly be a market rebound. "We've just not seen that at this point. What's settling in is that we are continuing to make the transition from the drought-reduced crop of last year."
Near record planting intentions and improved moisture conditions are raising prospects for a good crop. The USDA's first planting intentions report came out on the same day as the stocks report, showing planted corn acres should be slightly higher than last year. "Those numbers could change quite a bit," Good cautioned, while noting some shifts in state-level intentions. "Those areas that suffered the worst with the drought last year show some reduction in intended corn acres with the increase coming primarily in North Dakota, Minnesota and the southern U.S. where the crop yields were good last year. In fact, the southern U.S. had the best yields ever." Intended corn acres are down slightly, though, in the heart of the Corn Belt.
Heading into the spring planting season, moisture conditions east of the Mississippi River are back to normal, although in the western Corn Belt there continues to be extreme dryness with Nebraska at the center. "It looks like over the next week to 10 days the chances are pretty good for some good rains," Good added. After last year's early start to planting, this spring's cold March has farmers anxious to get working. "At this juncture we're still thinking we can get most of the crop planting done in timely fashion," he said.
"In the bigger picture, the important development for ethanol moving forward is E15," Good said. "Everybody's aware of that."
This topic will be discussed in greater detail at the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo, June 10-13, 2013 in St. Louis, MO. www.fuelethanolworkshop.com
About BBI International:
Founded in 1995, BBI International produces globally recognized bioenergy events and trade magazines. In addition to the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo (FEW), the largest, longest-running ethanol conference in the world -- BBI International owns and operates the International Biomass Conference & Expo -- and the National Advanced Biofuels Conference & Expo. The company publishes Biomass Magazine, Ethanol Producer Magazine, Pellet Mill Magazine, Biodiesel Magazine and The Bakken magazine, as well as a number of ancillary products including maps, directories, e-newsletters and other web-based industry resources.
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