Corn Market Faces Fractional Losses Despite Strong Planting Progress
The corn market struggled to maintain its early session strength on Monday, with contracts recording slight losses in the front months. The front month CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price remained unchanged at $4.55 1/2.
US Crop Progress Shows Positive Planting Rate
According to the Crop Progress data released this afternoon, the US corn crop is now 12% planted as of April 20. This surpasses the 5-year average of 10% for this time period. Corn emergence is reported at 2%, consistent with normal expectations.
Export Data Highlights Strong Demand
Recent Export Inspections data indicated that a total of 1.702 million metric tons (MMT) of corn were shipped during the week of April 17. This figure reflects a decline of 6.95% from the previous week but marks a 2.49% increase compared to the same week last year, representing the highest shipment volume for this week since 2018. Notably, Mexico stood as the largest destination, receiving 490,398 MT, followed by Japan with 437,602 MT, and South Korea with 206,613 MT. To date, marketing year exports have reached 39.22 MMT (1.544 billion bushels) since September 1, reflecting a substantial 28.97% increase over the same period last year.
Speculative Positioning Rebounds
Data from Friday’s CFTC report revealed that speculative funds in corn futures and options added 70,997 contracts to their net long position as of April 15. This adjustment brought their total net long position back to 124,573 contracts.
Corn Futures Performance
May 25 Corn closed at $4.81 3/4, down 1/2 cent.
Nearby Cash price stayed steady at $4.55 1/2, unchanged.
Jul 25 Corn ended the session at $4.90, down 1/4 cent.
Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.64 1/2, down 1 1/2 cents.
New Crop Cash recorded a closing price of $4.29 3/4, down 1 1/2 cents.
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data provided are for informational purposes only. For further details, please refer to the Barchart Disclosure Policy.
The views expressed in this article represent the author’s opinions and do not reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
