Corn Futures PricesWednesday, May 16th, 2012

Corn futures are trading 15 cents higher in the July contract and as much as five higher in the Dec contract. July corn led the rally yesterday as tight producer holding of old crop corn got the bull spreaders interested again. China National Grain & Oils Information Center (CNGOIC) said in an emailed monthly report that it expects China’s corn imports in the year starting Oct. 1 to rise by 500,000 metric tons to 6 million tons from an estimate of 5.5 million tons in the current marketing year. It also raised its expectations for Chinese corn use in the next marketing year, stating that it may rise 5.8 percent, or 10.9 MMT, to a total of 199 MMT, vs. the current USDA estimate of 200 MMT. The John Deere company predicts that Corn will drop to $4.85 a bushel on average for the next marketing year.;$0.45/bushel lower than the company projected on Feb. 15, and more than a dollar lower than its estimate for the previous year average of $6.05.

Jul 12 Corn is at $6.13, up 15 3/4 cents,
Sep 12 Corn is at $5.31 1/2, up 8 1/2 cents,
Dec 12 Corn is at $5.20, up 5 1/2 cents