US Corn Prices Rally Amid Strong Export Demand

Corn futures saw significant gains on Monday as contracts closed higher across most months. The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price increased by 9 3/4 cents to $4.20. This comes after a busy weekend that saw overnight losses shrugged off.

The weekly Crop Progress report revealed that 90% of the US corn crop had silked by August 2, with 43% in the dough stage and 6% dented. The crop's condition ratings slipped another 2%, now at 61% in good to excellent condition, according to the Brugler500 index, which was down 5 points to 356.

Grain Crushing data for June showed a record total of corn used for ethanol production, with 466.71 mbu used compared to last month and 4.43% larger year-over-year. Export Inspections also reported an increase in corn shipments, with 1.885 MMT (74.2 mbu) shipped in the week of 7/30, a 22.92% rise from the previous week and 45.44% above the same period last year.

Mexico was the largest destination for these shipments at 490,997 MT, followed by South Korea with 351,654 MT and Colombia with 271,599 MT. The marketing year total is now 77.27 MMT (3.04 bbu) of exports, a 25.35% increase from last year with just one month left in the marketing year.

The Brazilian second crop corn was estimated by AgRural to be at 69% harvested in the center south region, with an estimated total of 110.5 MMT and a total crop of 142.8 MMT for 2025/26. StoneX also updated their numbers, raising the second crop estimate by 3.2 MMT to 110.7 MMT and the total crop to 141.5 MMT.