Corn Posting Wednesday Strength on Record Ethanol Production

Group 1 - Corn futures are trading higher, with contracts increasing by 2 to 4.5 cents at midday, indicating strong demand driven by record ethanol production and exports [1] - The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price has risen by 4.5 cents to $3.96 1/4 [1] - A private export sale of 177,055 MT of corn to Mexico was reported by the USDA [1] Group 2 - EIA data revealed a record ethanol corn grind for the week ending December 12, increasing by 26,000 barrels per day to 1.131 million bpd, while stocks decreased by 157,000 barrels to 22.353 million barrels [2] - Ethanol exports rose by 66,000 bpd to 191,000 bpd, and refiner inputs of ethanol increased by 55,000 barrels per day to 906,000 bpd [2] Group 3 - A South Korean importer purchased 268,000 MT of corn in a recent tender [3] - Brazil's December corn exports are estimated at 6.35 MMT, reflecting a slight increase of 0.05 MMT from the previous week [3] - Current corn prices for various contracts are as follows: Mar 26 at $4.41 (up 4.5 cents), Nearby Cash at $3.96 1/4 (up 4.5 cents), May 26 at $4.48 (up 3.5 cents), and Jul 26 at $4.53 3/4 (up 2.75 cents) [3]