Corn Prices Steady Amid Modest Export Sales and Slower Harvest Progress

Corn futures saw modest movements to start the week, with the nearby December contract closing down just half a cent. Other front-month contracts remained steady, while deferred contracts saw slight gains of a fraction to a penny. The CmdtyView national average cash corn price fell a quarter cent to $4.59 3/4.

USDA reported a private export sale of 129,540 metric tons of corn to Mexico, scheduled for shipment in the 2026/27 marketing year. Meanwhile, Monday’s Crop Progress report indicated that 83% of the US corn crop was mature as of October 4, with harvest progress at 23%, lagging behind the average pace by 4 percentage points. Condition ratings also declined, with only 54% of the crop rated good to excellent, a 3% drop from the previous week.

USDA’s weekly Export Inspections report revealed that corn export shipments totaled 1.368 million metric tons during the week ending October 1, a 19.63% decrease from the prior week but still 13.49% higher than the same week last year. The top destinations for US corn were Mexico, Japan, and Colombia. Marketing year exports for 2026/27 are now 4.4% above the same period last year.

In Brazil, AgRural estimated that 38% of the first corn crop had been planted as of last Thursday, slightly behind the 40% planted during the same week last year. Corn futures prices for December 2026 closed at $4.97 1/4, while nearby cash prices were at $4.59 3/4. March 2027 and May 2027 corn futures remained unchanged at $5.11 1/2 and $5.18 1/2, respectively.