Ethanol Blog

All eyes through the Monday trading session were focused on the corn market. Well, not quite. Actually, if anyone was left watching the corn market at the end of the trading session, it would be amazing. The corn market has reverted into what in any other market would be considered a dead market -- especially Monday's trade session, as trade was limited in a 3-cent price range in electronic markets, but fell just 1 cent per bushel by closing bell.

Other corn contracts through the complex struggled to close anything but unchanged. Corn markets have not been very active over the last month, which has cleared most of the active noncommercial trade out of the market.

It is unclear what it will take to bring traders back or if they even have corn futures on their radar list anymore. But the lack of activity and interest in corn markets is also weighing heavily on ethanol markets.

The lightly-traded markets previously had the volatility in corn markets and production costs to keep traders close to the market. But now many seem to be content watching from afar, perhaps too distant for them to regain interest in the market for the near future.

Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@telventdtn.com

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