Corn Pushes Gains into Friday’s Close
Corn futures closed out Friday trade with some strength, as July was 6 cents higher and some new crop contracts posting 2 to 3 cent gains. July corn closed the week with a 2 cent pop, with December slipping back 6 1/4 cents on the week. The front month CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price was up 6 cents at $4.21. Crude oil strength was supportive, following Israel strikes on Iran overnight, with the nearby contract up $5.27/barrel.
Commitment of Traders data from CFTC indicated the corn speculators added 9,977 contracts of futures and options to their net short position in the week that ended on June 10th. They held a net short of 164,020 contracts as of Tuesday.
The next 7 days are expected to be wet, with areas stretching from eastern KS, through MO and parts of the Eastern Corn Belt expecting to see precip through Monday. Portions of the Western Corn Belt through northern IL are forecast to receive rains in the middle of next week.
Weekly Export Sales data indicated total corn commitments at 65.929 MMT, which is now 98% of the newly updated export forecast and is slightly behind the 99% 5-year average pace. Actual FAS shipments are now 51.541 MMT, which is 76.5% of the USDA estimate and lags behind the 78% average shipping pace.
Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.44 1/2, up 6 cents,
Nearby Cash was $4.21, up 6 cents,
Sep 25 Corn closed at $4.28 1/2, up 2 1/4 cents,
Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.43, up 2 1/2 cents,
New Crop Cash was $4.03 1/2, up 5 1/2 cents,
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder 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.