Corn prices are starting off the last week of June with weakness and 3 to 4 cent losses. Corn ended the holiday shortened week with losses of 3 ¼ to 4 ¾ cents on Friday, and July sustained a net weekly loss of 15 cents per bushel. July options expired on Friday without any real drama. Preliminary open interest showed long liquidation (down 18,584 contracts across the board) but mostly closeouts of July positions at options expiration. Futures continue to feel pressure of the ‘rain makes grain’ variety. Flooding and high winds are taking the top end off of crop size, but that must be deducted from optimum yield, not trendline.
Friday morning’s delayed Export Sales report tallied old crop corn export bookings at just 511,432 MT during the week of June 13. That was a 9-week low and shy of the trade’s estimated range of 0.7-1.2 MMT. Japan took a bulk of the total, at 370,600 MT (though 355,100 MT was switched from unknown), with Columbia in for 113,900 MT. Unknown destinations saw a bunch of switching, with net reductions of 418,400 MT. New crop sales were in the middle of the expected 0-200,000 MT estimate at 93,640 MT.
A couple international tenders by South Korean importers saw separate purchases of 66,000 MT and 132,000 MT of corn on Friday morning. Origins weren’t reported but thought to be South American.
Jul 24 Corn closed at $4.35, down 4 3/4 cents, currently down 3 1/4 cents
Nearby Cash was $4.20 1/2, down 5 cents,
Sep 24 Corn closed at $4.40 1/2, down 4 1/4 cents, currently down 3 1/2 cents
Dec 24 Corn closed at $4.53 1/4, down 3 1/2 cents, currently down 4 cents
New Crop Cash was $4.15 3/4, down 5 3/4 cents,
On the date of publication, Alan Brugler did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
