Corn Futures Dip as Traders Cash In Before the Weekend
Corn futures ended Friday’s trading with losses, as traders took profits before the weekend, leading to decreases of 1 to 6 ¼ cents on contracts. The most affected was the December futures, which saw its weekly gains reduced to just 10 ½ cents. According to cmdtyView, the national average Cash Corn price fell by 6 ½ cents to $3.82 ½ per bushel. Thus far in October, the average closing price for December corn futures has been $4.17, which is 49 cents lower than February’s base insurance price.
Continued Export Activity
The USDA announced another private export sale this morning, reporting 135,000 metric tons of corn sold to Mexico for the 2024/25 marketing year. Recent activity has boosted the outlook for corn exports.
Strong Export Sales Update
Export sales for the week ending October 17 totaled 3.602 million metric tons, bringing the marketing year total to 23.478 million metric tons. This figure represents a 34% increase over the same time last year and accounts for 40% of the USDA’s full-year export projection. Historically, exporters would typically have sold 38% of their annual projection by this time.
CFTC Report on Trader Positions
The weekly CFTC Commitments of Traders report revealed a reduction of 15,489 contracts from managed money’s net short position in corn futures and options as of October 22, now standing at -71,499 contracts. In contrast, commercial traders increased their net short position by 22,541 contracts to reach -155,577 contracts as of Tuesday.
Closing Prices for Corn Futures
Dec 24 Corn closed at $4.15 ¼, down 6 ¼ cents.
Nearby Cash was priced at $3.82 ½, down 6 ½ cents.
Mar 25 Corn finished at $4.29 ½, down 5 ½ cents.
May 25 Corn ended at $4.37 ¼, down 4 ½ cents.
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold any positions, either directly or indirectly, in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article are intended solely for informational purposes. For more details, please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy
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The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
