Corn Traders Had Little to Show for Friday Effort

corn field

Corn futures couldn’t hold initial gains into the Friday close, as quite a few markets sold off going into the weekend.  Net changes were fractional, down ¾ to up ½ cent per bushel. Fairly benign weather forecasts and less than desired export business limited buying interest. 

The 7-day QPF from NOAA shows spotty rains over the next week, with some heavier totals nearing an inch in parts of eastern NE/SD and western IA over the coming days. Parts of IN and OH are also expected to see some totals near an inch.

Friday afternoon’s Commitment of Traders report did show the managed money spec funds cutting back their record large net short position in corn, ever so slightly.  They reduced it by 10,587 contracts in the week ending July 16, leaving them net short 343,936 contracts.

Thursday’s Export Sales report took the full year export sale commitments to 54.71 MMT, which is 97% of the USDA recently updated export forecast. Normally, we’d be 102% of that number by now. Shipments from the report for the 2023/24 marketing year are 46.16 MMT, 82% of the projected total and 7% behind the normal pace despite being well ahead of last year’s underperforming program.

Sep 24 Corn  closed at $3.90 1/2, down 3/4 cent,

Nearby Cash  was $3.83 3/8, down 3/4 cent,

Dec 24 Corn  closed at $4.04 3/4, down 1/4 cent,

Mar 25 Corn  closed at $4.18 1/2, down 1/4 cent,

New Crop Cash  was $3.68 1/2, down 1/4 cent,


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.