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Corn futures rose to a 12-year high Wednesday as March corn settled 7 cents higher to $4.62 1/2 per bushel. The rise was due to a strong rally in soybean and crude oil futures. March soybean futures jumped 34.5 cents to $12.48 3/4 per bushel.

Crude oil futures, meanwhile, surpassed the $100 mark for the first time due to escalating violence in Nigeria. The CEO of Olam International believes corn prices will average $5.30-$5.50 a bushel in the new year. Fortunately, ethanol futures have yet to cool down. Ethanol on the CBOT rose for the 19th time in 20 trading days today to settle at $2.42 per gallon (up 5.2 cents).

As a result, ethanol's profitability continues to rise despite corn's run as ethanol's crush spread is now at $2.152.

DateCBOT ethanol price CBOT corn priceCrush spread
January 2nd $2.42 $4.62 $2.15
December 18th $2.13 $4.32 $1.66
December 15th $2.08  $4.38 $1.44
December 10th $1.88 $4.17  $1.09
November 19th $1.81 $3.94  $1.12
October 16th $1.61 $3.74 $.77
September 1st $1.54  $3.69  $.62
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