Weekly Corn Market Update 09/01/23
December 2023 (Dec23) corn futures (the benchmark for 2023 corn production) finished the week lower by 6.50 cents (~1.33%), settling at $4.8150/bushel. This week's trading occurred entirely within the unremarkable range we published last week.
Our corn demand index (CDI) outperformed Dec23 corn futures this week - rising 3.24%. The ratio of Nov23 soybean futures divided by Dec23 corn futures finished unchanged at 2.84. Potential instability in the US financial system, the war in Ukraine, executive branch policy, tensions with China, Federal Reserve interest rate policy, and the Dollar remain concerns.
Dec23 corn futures remain below the long-term downtrend trendline, extending from the highs of 04/27/22 and 10/14/22. We see technical levels below the market at around $4.63 and $4.20/bushel. We see technical levels above the market at approximately $4.83, $4.98, $5.14, $5.25, $5.48, $5.63, $5.71, $5.84, $6.03, $6.14, $6.31, $6.55, and $6.78/bushel. Daily and weekly momentum indicators finished the week in neutral to oversold territory. Carry spreads from Dec23 to Mar24, May24, and Jul24 widened slightly this week.
Our at-the-money model volatilities for the 2023 crop finished mixed this week. Our new crop model volatilities mostly remain lower than comparable volatilities last year. Our primary focus remains trading around our clients' established positions to capture market volatility to help offset time decay. See the model volatility charts below for more details. One compares our closing at-the-money model volatilities for this week and last. The other compares our current model volatilities with the forward volatilities they imply between consecutive expirations.
For next week's trading in Dec23 corn futures, we consider trade in the $4.6675-$4.9775 per bushel range unremarkable. Notable moves extend to the $4.4850-$5.1950 per bushel range. Price action beyond that would be extreme. A chart of these levels over time is available below. Be sure to visit our Twitter page to vote in our weekly poll. While you are there, please give us a follow.
For the fall crop insurance price, we see a median of $4.7775/bushel with a mode between $4.65 and $4.70/bushel. The expected distribution of fall crop insurance prices shifted lower with the selloff. See the crop insurance charts below.
This week, we made a pair of trades for our Quartzite Precision Marketing customers in corn. We purchased some out-of-the-money Week-1 Sep23 puts for less than a penny on Sunday night. On Friday, we legged buying a downside put calendar from short-dated Mar24 to short-dated May24 to add to our 2024 hedges.
If you think Quartzite Precision Marketing might be a good fit for your operation, now might be a good time to begin considering your 2024 marketing plan; reach out to learn more and discuss your options.
Thanks for taking the time to read. We look forward to your questions and feedback. Thanks again.
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#AgTwitter & #oatt - cast your vote in this week's poll, then click over to read our Weekly #Corn #Market Update: https://t.co/sey1seDU5U
— Quartzite James (@QuartziteRMLLC) September 1, 2023
We think these scenarios have roughly equal probability next week. Where do you think #cbot Dec23 corn #futures will settle next week?
Weekly Price Levels and Corn Demand Index
As a reminder, the Quartzite Risk Management Corn Demand Index references the weekly change in April 2024 futures for Crude Oil, Live Cattle and Lean Hogs. We weigh the percentage change in those contracts and compute the index's percentage change. Crude Oil accounts for 50% of the index, and Live Cattle and Lean Hogs each make up 25%. To create the chart, we started the index at the Dec23 corn futures settlement on 11/04/22; then added or subtracted the index's weekly percentage change. We want to add a few warnings. First, there are only a handful of data points - not much to go on. Second, the index references relatively illiquid markets - making any strategy based on it challenging to execute. Third, we expect divergences to increase as we get into the growing season when the corn market will likely look more toward supply for its direction. In short, we would not attempt to trade on this information without much more data, nor would we recommend anyone else does.
