Corn Hits 12-Year High; Ethanol Keeps Pace

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.

Date	CBOT ethanol price	CBOT corn price	Crush 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