Corn is a cereal crop (like wheat, rice, millet, rye, oat) which belongs to the family of bromes (Poaceae). The plant originates from Mexico but is nowadays cultivated worldwide. The corn-futures traditionally count to the most traded commodity-contracts. They come right after Crude oil measured by their quantity, closely followed by soybeans.
The greatest use for corn is as a basis for livestock and poultry feed. But corn also serves as an important ingredient in many of the foods we eat every day — corn oil for margarine, corn starch for gravy, and corn sweeteners for soft drinks, just to name a few. Nonfood uses of corn include alcohol for ethanol fuel, absorbing agents for disposable diapers, and adhesives for paper products.
In the emerging countries that plant is predominantly utilized for the human nutrition (such as tortillas, cornbread, hominy). In the industrial countries, corn is mainly utilized in form of ensiled corn for animal-feeding which is best suitable for storage. Although two-thirds of the global corn production are processed into animal fodder, the usage of corn for the production of ethanol (bio-fuel) is gaining more and more importance. The market share alone in the U.S.A. is currently already over 20 %.
The worldwide corn production is ranked no. 1 with 700 million tons according to statistics before wheat and rice. The biggest producers of corn are – with a distinct gap – the U.S.A. and China, followed by Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. To the importing countries count above all Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and South Korea. Â
Corn is traded at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). The traded contracts are noted in U.S. Cent per bushel (bu), whereby a contract comprises 5,000 bu. (1 bu = 56 lbs. or 25.4012 kg). The daily price-fluctuations are provided with a limit of 20 Cents – upwards as well as downwards.
Most important stock exchange centers: CBOT (ticker symbol C), ECBOT (e-trade at CBOT, ticker symbol ZC)
Contract-cycles: March, May, July, September, December.
Contract-size: 5,000 bu.
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