Corn futures ended the month on a downtrend, with contracts falling between 1 ¼ and 4 cents on Friday. December corn futures saw a weekly decline of 8 ¼ cents and a monthly drop of 53 cents. Despite this, the CmdtyView national average cash corn price edged up ¼ cent to $4.14.
Harvesting progress may slow after the weekend due to expected rainfall, with the NOAA 7-day QPF forecasting 1-2 inches across much of the country in the latter half of the period.
The average close for December corn futures in October was $4.75, which sets the harvest price option for crop insurance. Friday’s Commitment of Traders report revealed that managed money in corn futures and options reduced their net long position by 90,314 contracts as of Tuesday, leaving them net long just 55,943 contracts on October 27th.
USDA’s Export Sales report from Thursday indicated that 2026/27 corn commitments stood at 23.496 MMT, a significant 34% below last year’s level. This figure represents only 28% of USDA’s Export projection and lags behind the 5-year average of 39%. However, a couple of South Korean importers purchased a total of 340,000 MT in tenders on Friday. Additionally, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange reported that the Argentina corn crop is 47.3% planted, well above the average pace of 33%.
Key closing prices included December 2026 corn at $4.47 3/4, down 3 ½ cents, and nearby cash corn at $4.14 1/1, up ¼ cent. March 2027 corn closed at $4.61, down 3 ¾ cents, while May 2027 corn closed at $4.69, down 4 cents. December 2027 corn closed at $4.87 ½, down 1 ½ cents, and new crop cash corn was at $4.44 5/8, up ¾ cent.