Chicago Board of Trade corn futures fell for the fourth straight session on Monday, plunging to new contract lows, as ethanol demand plummeted amid the coronavirus pandemic which shows little sign of abating.
Corn futures were also sapped by massive US planting prospects and renewed weakness in crude oil that underscored crumbling demand for corn-based ethanol.
CBOT May corn settled down 3 cents at $3.27-3/4 per bushel after posting a contract low of $3.25-1/2 during the session. It was the lowest price for a most-active corn contract on a continuous basis since Sept. 30, 2016. Futures prices were pressured by the pandemic's impact on the livestock market, another key consumer of grains, at the fast-spreading coronavirus continues to disrupt global supplies and stoke worries about weakening demand, traders said.
Weakening demand has weighed down prices as ethanol producers have slowed or halted output amid falling energy prices. Tumbling cattle and hog prices stoked concerns about herd liquidation, which would reduce demand for feed.
Tyson Foods Inc said on Monday it shut an Iowa hog slaughterhouse after more than 24 cases of COVID-19 involving employees at the facility, in the latest disruption to the US food supply chain from the coronavirus outbreak.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported on Monday that weekly corn export inspections were 1,271,481 tonnes for the week ended April 2, compared to 1,062,381 tonnes for the period a year earlier.
Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans were mostly unchanged in the US Midwest interior on Monday while basis bids for both crops showed slight, mixed changes at river elevators that feed the US Gulf export market.