Prices of maize across spot markets fell as demand was weak and supply was low. Bulk buyers are waiting for the new crop to hit markets and may not pile up stocks for some time.

On the NCDEX, maize futures, however, ended higher as market participants expect the kharif maize crop to be much smaller than the government estimates and anticipate a supply shortage. The most-active October contract ended at 2,155 rupees per 100 kg, up 2.5% from the previous close.

The government has pegged kharif maize output for this year at 19.9 mln tn, compared with 19.0 mln tn produced in 2018-19, according to the first advance estimate. However, market players estimate the production to be at 16.1 mln tn in 2019-20 compared with 15.1 mln tn pegged for 2018-19.

Corn futures saw fractional to 2 cent losses in most contracts on Thursday. This morning’s USDA Export Sales data showed 493,966 MT of 19/20 corn sold during the week of 9/19, below expectations for 600,000 MT or more.

That was a drop of 66.27% from last week and 71.16% below the same week in 2018. Mexico was the top buyer of 196,800 MT, with Japan purchasing 92,900 MT.

Total commitments for 19/20 exports are down 49.9% from the same time last year at 9.15 MMT, the lowest since 02/03. The International Grains Council raised their 19/20 world corn carryout estimate by 2 MMT to 286 MMT.