Corn futures dropped leading into the weekend, with contracts closing on Friday down to 5 cents lower; the front month May contract fell by 3.5 cents this week. The CmdtyView national average cash corn price decreased by 5 cents, settling at $4.19 1/2.
Export sales data reported old crop corn commitments of 68.875 million metric tons (MMT), marking a 30% increase from last year and representing 82% of the USDA’s export projection. Total managed money net long positions in corn futures increased by 55,744 contracts as of March 24, amounting to 284,548 contracts, while commercial net short positions rose to 567,545 contracts.
Looking ahead to the USDA March Intentions report, traders expect corn acreage to be reported at 94.37 million acres, down 4.4 million from last year. March 1 grain stocks are anticipated to be 9.104 billion bushels, an increase of 957 million bushels from the previous year.
