The July corn contract traded on Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) The futures contract closed this Tuesday (16) with a slight drop of 1.75 points and 0.42%, quoted at US$ cents 413.75/bushel; the September contract ended stable with a downward bias (-0.25 points and -0.06%), at US$ cents 422.50/bushel. In this trading session, cereal prices were pressured by the drop of more than 5% in oil on the international market, a factor that reduces the competitiveness of US ethanol produced from corn, and by the good conditions of the crops in the Corn Belt. A survey carried out by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) until last Sunday (16) shows that 68% of the areas are classified as good or excellent, 1 percentage point above the previous week and still close to the 72% recorded in the same period of the last crop. The planting of the new season has already been completed. The total area sown will be reported on June 30 by the USDA; The planting intentions report points to 38.58 million hectares, 4% less than last season. The USDA also reports that 94% of crops have already reached the emergence stage, after a weekly advance of 8 percentage points, slightly above that observed in the same period last year and the average of the last five years. The market is now turning its attention to weather conditions, which will be decisive for crop development. The USDA's daily bulletin reports that pleasantly cool weather continues to prevail in the Corn Belt, with temperatures today remaining below 27°C, except in areas west and south of the Missouri River. Most of the Midwest's corn and soybean crops have sufficient moisture for normal development. However, on June 14, topsoil moisture was rated 44% above normal in Missouri and 28% above normal in Illinois, as a consequence of the torrential rains that occurred the previous week. On the radar: the start of the winter crop harvest in the Center-South of Brazil and the progress of fieldwork in Argentina.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.