Corn Futures Slip on Monday Amid Month-End Pressure

Corn futures are down slightly on Monday morning as August comes to a close. The modest losses range from fractionally to 1 ½ cents, which could be attributed to month-end pressure. Despite this, contracts held onto Friday's gains, with September and December settling 1 to 4 cents higher.

Last week, September corn rallied by 28 ¼ cents, while December rose by 28 cents. Open interest increased by 35,585 contracts on Friday. There were also 90 deliveries issued against September corn on First Notice Day.

According to the CFTC data, managed money in corn futures and options added a total of 126,008 contracts to their net long position as of August 25. This resulted in a net long of 376,513 contracts, which is the largest since April 2022 but still shy of the record by over 52,000 contracts.

The marketing year for corn exports ends on Monday, with commitments for 2025/26 at 87.758 MMT, exceeding the USDA export projection by 102%. New crop sales for 2026/27 are down 33.6% from last year but remain the fourth largest in the past 30 years.

Safras & Mercado estimates the Brazilian corn crop for 2026/27 at 145.6 MMT, surpassing the current USDA estimate of 139 MMT. AgRural reports that the second corn crop in Brazil's center south region is only 96% harvested, lagging last year.