Daily News

Chicago, Feb 27: Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures closed lower on Monday, with the benchmark contract ending 0.9 per cent lower, due to weak export inspection data and more optimism about the prospect of a Black Sea agreement extension.
By the close, corn futures were down 0.25 cents to 7.25 cents, with March futures ending 7.25 cents lower at 642.75 cents a bushel. May futures settled 5.75 cents lower at 643.50 cents a bushel; July futures settled down 5 cents at 633.75 cents a bushel.
The most active May futures traded in a range of 643 cents to 652.25 cents.
Corn futures fluctuated near their lowest level in two months, with the market lacking momentum at the moment, traders said. An analyst said the fundamental bullish factors for the corn market this week appear to be thin, as export sales are seasonally down and the poor crop in Argentina has been largely priced in.
Monday's USDA export inspection report offered little hope for export demand, as corn inspection numbers declined.
For the week ending February 23, 2023, U.S. corn exports inspected 572,622 tons, down 8.2 percent from a week earlier and 63.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the USDA Export Inspection Weekly Report.
Safras Mercado, a consultancy, says that by February 24th 28% of Brazil's first-season maize harvest had been completed, and 39% of the second-season maize planting in south-central regions had been completed, despite the rainy weather.
The central region of the United States on Monday spot - based corn prices basically remained stable.
Ukraine's food exports so far in 2020/23 are down 27 per cent year-on-year, with 708.6 million bushels of corn and 411.5 million bushels of wheat, according to the latest data from Ukraine's agriculture ministry.
Volume for the benchmark period was estimated at 211,537 lots on Monday, compared with 265,186 lots in the last session. Empty volume stood at 505,854 lots, compared with 515,962 lots in the last session.