Corn futures ended Thursday with fractional to penny gains in most contracts. USDA reported 904,536 MT of old crop corn sales MADE during the week of 3/21 in this morning’s Export Sales report. That was a jump of 5.68% from last week but 33.15% below the same week last year.

China was the lead buyer of 300,000 MT (previously announced under the daily system), with Japan buying 228,800 MT. New crop sales totaled 85,436 MT in that week. The International Grain Council estimates 18/19 world corn carryout at 305 MMT, up 8 MMT from last month on larger production. Agroconsult updated their 18/19 Brazil second corn crop estimate by 1.7 MMT to 70.6 MMT. Argentina’s crop is expected to hit 46 MMT according to the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange, up 1 from their previous estimate.