Prices of maize remained steady across key spot markets as demand from bulk purchasers softened. A decline in arrivals, however, capped the fall in prices.

Demand remained weak as bulk buyers are avoiding picking up stocks at higher prices.

In Nizamabad, maize was sold at 2,425-2,450 rupees per 100 kg, unchanged from previous close.

Maize futures on NCDEX, too, fell tracking spot cues. The most active August maize contract was 0.7% lower at 2,120 rupees per 100 kg.

Corn futures failed to hold gains from earlier in the session, closing fractionally to 1 1/2 cents lower in the front months.

EIA data released this morning showed ethanol production for the week ending 7/19 averaged 1.039 million barrels per day. That was a drop of 27,000 bpd from the week prior.

Ethanol stocks were up another 324,000 barrels to 23.689 million barrels. Thursday’s Export Sales report is expected to show 150,000-400,000 MT in old crop corn sales for the week of July 18, with new crop seen at 100,000-300,000 MT.

Ukraine’s 2019 corn crop estimate from APK-Inform was trimmed by 1 MMT to 33.8 MMT, vs. the USDA projection of 34 MMT.