Corn: The corn market was quietly lower to start the week. This isn’t overly surprising given the US is heading toward its Thanksgiving Day holiday, with the following weeks through the end of the year generally a time when traders lose interest in King Corn. This year could be different because of all that is going on in the world, with Vlad the Invader still wanting to use some of his nuclear arsenal. Additionally, the US president-elect is the same person who thought a similar invasion by the US into Mexico was a good idea. This could keep Mexico buying, and shipping, US corn through the end of the year at least. We can continue to see the commercial interest in our reads on real fundamentals, starting with the National Corn Index ($CNCI) (national average cash price). The index was calculated last Friday near $4.0650, as compared to the previous weekly settlement near $4.0350 indicating available stocks-to-use had tightened slightly. Also, this put national average basis at 19.0 cents under December and 28.75 cents under March futures, as compared to the previous Friday’s calculations of 20.5 cents under and 31.75 cents under respectively. Meanwhile, 2024-2025 marketing year futures spreads generally covered bullish levels of calculated full commercial carry.
