Corn futures declined as most contracts closed lower, with September 24 corn settling at $3.67 ¾, down 3 ¾ cents. The recent Crop Tour by Pro Farmer projected a U.S. corn yield of 181.1 bushels per acre (bpa) and total production at 14.979 billion bushels (bbu), both lower than USDA estimates of 183.1 bpa and 15.147 bbu.
As of August 20, spec funds increased their net short position in corn futures and options by 8,889 contracts, totaling 257,869 contracts. Meanwhile, commercial positions grew by 5,036 contracts for a net long position of 14,669 contracts. Weekly export sales recorded old crop commitments at 55.936 million metric tons (MMT), 38% higher than last year, while new crop forward sales reached 7.924 MMT, marking a 7.8% increase from the same week last year.
Two tenders from South Korea resulted in the purchase of 133,000 metric tons of corn, expected to be sourced from South America.
