Follow through buying on Thursday left corn prices 2 to 3 3/4 cents higher on the day. USDA reported corn use for ethanol in August was 411.08 mbu. That was down 3.1% from July and down 9.6% yr/yr. The marketing year corn use for ethanol was 4.8525 billion bushels. The Export Sales report had corn bookings from the week ending 09/24 of 2.027 MMT. USDA’s daily reporting system already covered 38% of that with 3 previously announced sales; nonetheless, sales were still well above expectations and 260% above the same week last year. Four of the last 5 weeks have seen more than 2 MMT of 2020/21 corn sales. Total commitments are 969.34 mbu, which is 154% above the same week last year. Brokerage firm StoneX sees a 14.942 bbu corn crop on a 179 bpa yield. That is down 0.6 bpa from their previous forecast.

--- provided by Brugler Marketing & Management