Corn futures are down 2 3/4 to 4 1/4 cents so far on Monday. On Friday, preliminary OI rose 11,594 contracts, suggesting the gains were net new buying interest. Dalian futures (China) have dropped sharply since mid-January, presumably due to the coming onslaught of imported US corn. CFTC’s weekly data release on Friday showed managed money funds extended their net long by 14,734 contracts to 364,229 as of last Tuesday’s close. USDA flashed two new large export sales this morning, saying Mexico purchased 125,730 MT of old crop and Japanese importers purchased 110k MT. USDA’s weekly Export Inspections report showed 43.49 mbu of corn shipped on the week ending 01/28. That was nearly double the same week last year, and extended the MYTD lead from 19/20 to 84% with 782 mbu. USDA also revised past exports spread across 17/18, 18/19, and 19/20. The revisions totaled an additional 24.522 mbu of yellow corn shipments to Mexico via the interior. Reports from Mato Grosso indicate the slowest planting pace for double crop corn since 2011 – citing delays in taking off the soybeans. One estimate has planting at just 2.1% complete.

--- provided by Brugler Marketing & Management