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Archive Labor Market

Corn Close Mixed as Ethanol Production Improves

By Elena Park 1 min read · May 14, 2026

Corn futures posted mixed action at the Wednesday close, with contracts within a penny of either side of unchanged. The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price was up a penny to $4.40.

The NOAA 7-day QPF shows expected precipitation totals aof 1 to 3 inches across much of the Corn Belt, with portions of the eastern Plains through OH catching some rain.

Weekly EIA data from this morning showed a 65,000 barrel per day hike in ethanol output in the week ending on May 8, taking the total to 1.082 million bpd. Ethanol stocks saw a draw of 1.15 million barrels to 24.87 million barrels. Ethanol exports were up 23,000 barrels per day to 162,000 bpd, with refiner inputs up 6,000 bpd to 908,000 bpd.

Export Sales data will be released on Thursday, with traders looking for old crop corn business in the week of 5/7 at 1 to 1.9 MMT. New crop sales are seen at 0 to 300,000 MT.

The Rosario Grains Exchange estimates the Argentina corn crop at 68 MMT, up 1 MMT from their previous number. CONAB will be out with their Brazilian corn production update on Thursday.

Jul 26 Corn  closed at $4.80 3/4, up 3/4 cent,

Nearby Cash  was $4.40 1/1, up 1 cents,

Sep 26 Corn  closed at $4.87 1/4, up 1 cent,

Dec 26 Corn  closed at $5.03, up 1 cent,

New Crop Cash  was $4.56 1/8, up 1 cent,

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About the author

Elena Park

Markets editor · Podcast co-host

Elena leads the Markets desk and co-hosts The Freedom Market Podcast. She writes about monetary policy and markets, focused on how macro turns into investor decisions.