Corn Holding Steady at Midday

Group 1 - Corn futures are holding steady with some contracts fractionally higher, and the national average cash corn price is at $4.09 [1] - Export sales data for the week ending January 1 showed only 377,598 MT of corn sold, which is below the estimated range of 0.7-1.5 MMT for 2025/26 and represents a 15.1% decrease compared to the same week last year [1] - For the 2026/27 marketing year, corn sales were recorded at 11,860 MT, falling within the expectations of 0-100,000 MT [1] Group 2 - Census data revealed a record export of 6.564 MMT of corn in October, which is a 5.93% decrease from September but a 63.38% increase from October 2024 [2] - Distillers exports in October were nearly at last year's record level, totaling 1.067 MMT, while ethanol shipments reached a record pace of 185 million gallons [2] Group 3 - The USDA is set to release data on Monday, with expectations for US corn production to be at 16.553 billion bushels and an estimated yield of 184 bushels per acre according to a Bloomberg survey [3] - Current corn prices include March 26 Corn at $4.46 3/4, Nearby Cash at $4.08, May 26 Corn at $4.54 1/2, and July 26 Corn at $4.60 1/2, with slight increases noted for May and July contracts [3]