Corn futures eased 3–4 cents on Wednesday (Dec down 6c) with the national cash corn average at $3.99 (down $0.035), as market attention focused on softer ethanol demand and mixed crush data: US ethanol production slipped to 1.105 million bpd (down 21k bpd week-on-week) with stocks broadly unchanged and refiner inputs and exports down, while USDA/NASS backlogged crush reports showed September grind at 435.36m bu (-2.66% y/y) and October at 476.4m bu (+2.76% y/y), leaving corn-for-ethanol usage up about 1m bu year-to-date; speculators trimmed another ~31,993 contracts from their net short to 39,523 contracts, and modest commercial buying from South Korea (136k MT) and a Taiwan tender (65k MT) provided limited support. The combination of weaker short-term ethanol demand and ongoing position adjustments by managed money, plus an expected backlogged export sales release, suggests near-term price pressure but continued sensitivity to weekly export data and fund flows that could quickly reverse the move.
Corn futures softened on Wednesday, with front-month December down about 6 cents and nearby contracts giving back 3–4 cents; the CmdtyView national average cash corn fell to $3.99 (down $0.035). Dec 2025 futures closed $4.34 3/4 (down 6 cents), Mar 2026 at $4.44 1/4 (down 3 3/4 cents) and May 2026 at $4.51 3/4 (down 3 3/4 cents), reflecting modest intraday weakness across the curve. US ethanol fundamentals showed near-term softness: production declined to 1.105 million barrels per day (down 21,000 bpd week-on-week), stocks edged down to 22.51 million barrels, refiner inputs fell 6,000 bpd to 851,000 bpd and exports dropped 45,000 bpd to 125,000 bpd. USDA/NASS backlogged crush data were mixed — September corn grind 435.36 million bushels (-2.66% y/y) versus October grind 476.4 million bushels (+2.76% y/y) — leaving year-to-date corn-for-ethanol usage about 1 million bushels higher than last year. Positioning and real-money flows are influencing price action: CFTC data show managed-money trimming another ~31,993 contracts to a net short of 39,523 contracts, while commercial buying was visible in tenders (136,000 MT to South Korea, 65,000 MT tendered by Taiwan). The market is therefore vulnerable to further downside from weaker domestic ethanol demand but remains sensitive to the backlogged export sales update (expected 0.8–2.0 MMT) and weekly fund flows that could quickly reverse moves.
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