US corn prices spiked Thursday after the release of a US Department of Agriculture’s prospective planting report that showed estimated corn acreage for the 2018-2019 marketing year could be on the lower end of expectations. S&P Global Platts assessed US corn, CIF New Orleans basis, for April delivery at $4.3475/bu, an increase of 14.25 cents compared with Wednesday. This is the largest jump in front-month prices since August 31, 2017. The front-month basis was unchanged at 47 cents/bu. US corn acreage for the 2018-19 marketing year was estimated by USDA at 88.026 million acres, a decrease of 2.2% from 89.996 million acres used in 2017-18.