Prices declining in the coming days once the fresh kharif crop hits the market, market participants pegged the 2019-20 (Jul-Jun) kharif maize output at 16.1 mln tn. They had estimated the output for 2018-19 at 15.1 mln tn.

Maize futures on NCDEX, however, rose today, with the most-active October contract ending 0.3% higher at 2,060 rupees per 100 kg.

Corn futures settled the Thursday session with 6 to 7 1/2 gains in the front months, after initial weakness following the USDA reports.

NASS updated their 2019 US corn yield projection on Thursday to 168.2 bpa, down 1.3 from the August number, as they left acreage unch. Production was down 102 mbu to 13.799 bbu on that yield cut. Ending stocks for 19/20 were up 9 mbu to 2.19 bbu, as old crop stocks rose more than expected (85 mbu) to 2.445 bbu. Old crop world stocks were up slightly to 329.55 MMT, with the 2020 projection down 1.45 MMT to 306.27.

A private export sale of 113,036 MT was reported for 19/20 delivery to Mexico this morning.

The weekly Export Sales report showed a total of 498,090 MT in 19/20 bookings, with 734,420 MT in unshipped sales carried over from 18/19 during the week of September 6. Total commitments to start the new MY are 7.19 MMT, the lowest since 2004/05.