At least 1,409 hectares of maize cultivation in Mizoram has been affected by an insect attack.

The outbreak of Fall Army Worm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda an insect has spread to all the eight districts of the state and has caused an estimated loss of Rs 18.05 crore of maize cultivation.

Corn futures closed within a penny of the highs in most contracts, with nearby May higher for the 5th straight close. Most contracts were 2 to 6 3/4 cents higher.

Data from the EIA showed ethanol production for the week of April 26 at 1.024 million barrels per day. That was down 24,000 bpd from the previous week.

Ethanol stocks were down 52,000 barrels to 22.695 million barrels, as the East and West Coasts were the only regions to see an increase.

USDA’s Grain Crushing report for March, released this afternoon, showed a total of 441.74 mbu of corn was used for ethanol production.

That was up 9.6% from February but still 6.59% below last March, as most had expected. Old Crop export bookings of 0.6-1 MMT for the week of 4/25 are expected in Thursday’s USDA Export Sales report, with 0-100,000 MT for new crop.