Corn Pulled Lower as Rains Move Across Western Corn Belt

Yellow corn that has had its husks removed

Corn is trading with weakness to start out Monday morning, down 4 ¾ to 5 ¾ cents. Futures collapsed into the Friday close, with contracts ending the week with 3 ¼ to 8 ½ cent losses. That limited the gains for the week, with July up just 1 ¼ cents and December picking up 3 cents. Long liquidation was a factor, with preliminary open interest down 7,299 contracts for the full set of months, and with July down 30,988 ahead of upcoming options expiration. 

The most active corn options on Friday were the September 500 and 550 calls, followed by the December 400 and 440 puts. 

NOAA’s 7-day QPF shows heavy precip total from Central KS through NE and western IA to MN and the Dakotas over the next week. The Eastern portions of the Corn Belt are expected to remain relatively dry in that period. 

Friday afternoon’s CFTC Commitment of Traders report showed spec traders in corn futures and options trimming just 427 contracts from their net short in the week of 6/11. That took them to -212,279 contracts on that date. Commercials increased their net short by 11,952 contracts to 65,00 contracts. 

Jul 24 Corn  closed at $4.50, down 8 1/2 cents,currently down 4 3/4 cents

Nearby Cash  was $4.34 7/8, down 8 1/4 cents,

Sep 24 Corn  closed at $4.57, down 6 1/2 cents, currently down 5 1/4 cents

Dec 24 Corn  closed at $4.70 1/4, down 5 3/4 cents, currently down 4 3/4 cents

New Crop Cash  was $4.34 1/2, 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.