Corn Prices Take a Hit as Crude Oil and Grains Weaken
Corn futures fell on Friday, closing down 2 to 3 ¼ cents in value. The December contract was down 2 ¾ cents for the week, while the CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price dropped by 3 cents to $4.82 1/4.
The pressure on corn prices came from double-digit weakness in beans and wheat as well as losses in crude oil. However, Commitment of Traders data from CFTC showed managed money adding back 1,671 contracts to their net long position in corn futures and options, bringing their total to 426,842 contracts.
The export market for corn has been quiet ahead of the meeting between President Trump and China's President Xi next week. Export Sales data updated on Thursday revealed that 2026/27 corn export commitments are now at 17.4 MMT, down 27% from the same period last year. This is behind both the USDA export projection and the 5-year average.
In a separate development, two South Korean importers purchased a total of 130,000 MT of corn in a tender overnight, following 260,000 MT in sales from Thursday.