“Prices were $.01-$.02 higher while spreads were mixed ahead of FND tomorrow for May-26 contracts. Deliveries are expected to be light with only 173 contracts registered for delivery with the CME. July-26 and Dec-26 both traded into new highs for the month. July-26 tested the upper end of its $4.50-$4.80 range. For weeks we’ve suggested energy prices would likely determine the directional breakout of this range which is clearly leaning higher. Dec-26 closed higher for a ninth consecutive session, however held below $5. Heavy rains from earlier this week will likely not slow corn plantings for too long with the dryer outlook. Taiwan reportedly bought 65k mt of U.S. feed corn for July shipment. Ethanol production fell to 297 mil. gallons LW, down from 306 mil. the previous week, and 3% below YA. Production was below expectations and the lowest in 3 months. There was 99 mil. bu. of corn used in the production process, or 14.2 mil. bu. per day, below the 15.5 needed to reach the USDA forecast of 5.6 bil. Ethanol stocks slumped to 25.9 mil. barrels, still above the 25.4 mb from YA,” according to Mark Soderberg with ADM Investor Services.