3/14/2023

Overnight trade was steady in the 1-3 cents lower range for corn and soybeans. During the coffee break, the USDA confirmed the sale of 612,000 metric tons of corn for delivery to China during the 2022/23 marketing year but the sale was dated as March 9. This is the first flash sale of U.S. corn exclusively to China since August 9, 2022 and the largest since April 28, 2022. Regardless, it is good to see corn sales beginning to pick up some pace. Second crop corn planting pace in Brazil is the slowest in over 10 years, tracking similar to 2021. We know the high prices over the past few years have resulted in more ground being planted and it would be interesting to know the estimated area in acres that has been planted versus those years rather than a percentage. Corn was able to immediately flip higher and trade firmly above unchanged and printed its high marks for the day going into the close. Soybeans struggled to trade higher but finally broke through late in the session, finishing mixed with the higher trade on the front end.

Trade has been eyeing the 595 gap on the corn charts following the recent sell-off. Our nearest support level is 606 and then the gap at 595.