Markets Quiet Wednesday

It was a quiet day Wednesday as corn closed a fraction lower. We only saw a daily range of about 2-1/2 cents. The Dollar Index dropped sharply after the close when the Federal Reserve announced that interest rates would not be increasing for now. The Energy Information Administration reported ethanol production was up 21,000 barrels per day to 990,000 barrels per day. Even with the increased production, ethanol stocks were down 400,000 barrels per day. Allendale released the results of a survey they do every year that indicates farmers will plant 90.431 million acres of corn this year. The USDA projected corn acres this year at 90 million acres.

Beans managed to close about 2 cents higher after trading lower most of the session. The USDA reported a daily sale of 100,000 MT of U.S. beans were sold to an unknown destination for the current marketing year. Allendale is projecting bean acres in the U.S. at 82.575 million acres this year. The Ministry of Commerce in China reported they imported 4.6 MMT of beans in March. Beans are trading at the upper end of their trading range but have not been able to break through. Maybe the Dollar Index will be lower today and that will help beans break through!