Corn traded higher in the early going yesterday, but failed in the trading session and had a weak close. December Corn peaked in yesterday’s action at 339 ¾ which was 3 cents higher only to close at 3333 ¾ which was 3 cents lower. Funds remain heavily short and weather played a big factor with rains across the Mid-West with decent temperatures. There were other fundamental reasons that pressured the market with weak exports concerns of a second wave of coronavirus cases and China requesting that shipments of US agricultural products have documentation that guarantees they are virus free. In the overnight electronic session the December corn is currently trading at 331 ¾ which is 2 cents lower. The trading range has been 333 ¾ to 331 ¾.
Ethanol stocks drop for the ninth straight week to a 6 ½ month low. Improved driving demand continues to spur blending activity with production up 6.2% from last week but down 16.7% from last year. There were no trades posted in the overnight electronic session. The August contract settled at 1.164 and is currently showing 1 bid @ 1.050 and 2 offers @ 1.210 with Open Interest at 74 contracts.
Crude oil dropped hard on the news of a resurgence in COVID-19 and builds in crude inventories. Tsvetana Parascova with OILPRICE.com reported that there are at least 16 oil tankers idling off the coasts of Africa and Southeast Asia because the few potential buyers would risk US sanctions for dealing with the regime of Nicolas Maduro. The tankers are carrying 18.1 million barrels of unsold Venezuelan crude and it is equal to two months' worth of the country's entire production at its current rate, according to Reuters. August Crude Oil is currently trading at 3731 which is 70 points lower. The trading range has been 3846 to 3713.
In natural gas, we have the weekly EIA storage report. A Reuters poll of 17 analysts offers a forecast for injection builds ranging from 90 bcf to 115 bcf with the median 106 bcf. This compares to the one-year injection of 92 bcf and the five-year average build of 65 bcf. August Natural Gas is currently trading at 1.616 which is 4 ½ cents lower. The trading range has been 1.661 to 1.612. Tomorrow is Last Trading Day in the July Natural Gas contract so it would be wise to roll or liquidate today.