Corn Futures Rally on Wheat-Led Support
Corn futures ended the week on a high note, with prices up across the board on Friday. The gains were led by December contracts, which closed at $4.83 1/4, up 11 1/4 cents from the previous day. Nearby Cash was also higher, reaching $4.30, a gain of 11 3/4 cents.
The rally in corn prices can be attributed to the continued support from a wheat-led rally on rising Black Sea tensions. This has helped extend corn's bounce into the weekend. Managed money spec traders in corn futures and options are now at a net long of 166,770 contracts by August 11, down 15,176 contracts from the previous week.
Export Sales data shows old crop corn sales at 87.503 MMT, which is 104% of the USDA number and ahead of the last few years' pace. Accumulated shipments are 80.066 MMT, or 95% of the USDA export projection. However, new crop corn sales are down 23.5% below the same period last year at 10.575 MMT.