Weekly Corn Market Update: Prices Decline Amid Export Changes
The corn market faced some challenges on Friday, with contract prices decreasing by 4 to 8 cents for most months. The March contract finished the week with a loss of 5 cents. As March options expired today, traders targeted a pin at the 490 strike price. According to CmdtyView, the national average Cash Corn price dropped by 6 ¾ cents to $4.59 1/2.
Traders Adjust Positions as Contracts Shift
Recent Commitment of Traders data from the CFTC revealed that speculative funds increased their net long positions in corn futures and options by 21,144 contracts during the week ending on February 18. This brought their total position to 353,533 contracts. Meanwhile, commercial traders added 22,352 contracts to their net short positions, which now stand at 638,930 contracts.
Export Sales Highlight Demand Trends
The Friday morning Export Sales report showed that 1.454 million metric tons (MMT) of corn were sold during the week ending February 13. This figure represents an 11.8% drop from the previous week but is still 77.2% larger than sales during the same week in 2024. Mexico was the largest buyer, purchasing 546,800 MT, followed by Japan with 457,400 MT and Spain with 185,500 MT. Current total export commitments have reached 47.87 MMT, marking a 29% increase from last year. This total represents 77% of the USDA’s export projection, three percentage points above the average pace.
Upcoming USDA Forecasts to Shape Market Outlook
The USDA plans to release its initial outlook for the 2025 corn crop at their February Outlook Forum next week. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg anticipate that the USDA will project 93.5 million acres to be planted with corn, reflecting an increase from last year’s 90.6 million acres. The estimated range suggested by analysts is between 92 million and 95.1 million acres.
Current Corn Prices at a Glance
Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.91 1/4, down 6 3/4 cents.
Nearby Cash was priced at $4.59 1/2, down 6 3/4 cents.
May 25 Corn finished at $5.05, a decrease of 7 3/4 cents.
Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.75, down 4 1/2 cents.
New Crop Cash was at $4.43 1/4, falling 4 3/4 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 in this article are provided for informational purposes only. For further details, please refer to the Barchart Disclosure Policy
here.
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