EPA Clears Summer E15 Sales, Lifting Corn as Oil Whipsaws on Iran News

Overview

• EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced Wednesday a waiver that will allow E15 gasoline sales from May 1 through the summer, and E15 is fuel with 15% ethanol that is usually limited in warm months due to vapor pressure rules.
• EIA data out Wednesday showed U.S. ethanol output up 23,000 barrels per day to 1.116 million, with stocks up 763,000 barrels to 27.17 million, which points to steady plant runs even as inventories build.
• Grain prices see-sawed after President Trump said Monday he ordered a five‑day pause on strikes against Iranian energy sites and Iran’s state media denied contacts, with crude down more than $9 Monday, up about $5 Tuesday, then lower again Wednesday and corn and wheat bouncing into midweek.
• Corn demand signals stayed firm as USDA reported 1.7 million metric tons inspected for export in the week ending March 19, a private sale of 102,000 tons to Mexico on Monday, and a 65,000‑ton Taiwan purchase reported Wednesday.
• Positioning and supply context continue to magnify moves, with funds having added 35,533 contracts to a net long in corn last week, Brazil’s second corn crop 97% planted, and Ukraine’s farm group pegs this year’s corn output near 31–32 million tons.