The July corn contract traded on Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) The futures contract closed this Thursday (21) with a moderate decrease of 3.50 points and 0.75%, quoted at US$ cents 462.25/bushel; the September contract fell 4.00 points and 0.85%, to US$ cents 468.50/bushel. In the week, on the other hand, futures accumulated gains of 1.43% and 1.19%, respectively. In this trading session, cereal prices were pressured by the good pace of planting of the new crop in the United States and by the strengthening of the dollar against the main global currencies, with the DXY operating higher throughout the trading session. A survey carried out by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) until Sunday (17) shows that the sowing of the 2026/27 crop advanced 19 pp in the last week, reaching 76% of the projected area – a pace in line with that recorded at the same point in the previous cycle, but ahead of the multi-year average (70%). The department reported today, through the Drought Monitor, that corn crops in drought-affected areas decreased last week. The daily weather bulletin indicates that rainfall has practically ceased in the lower Midwest in recent days, although delays in fieldwork persist. Oil prices fell for the second consecutive day, with the market still focused on negotiations for a resolution to the conflict in the Middle East. The devaluation of fossil fuel prices reduces the competitiveness of US corn-based ethanol. However, greater losses were limited by strong international demand. This morning, the USDA reported that net export sales for the 2025/26 crop year totaled 2.125 million tons in the week ending May 14, a volume 71% above the average of the previous four weeks. This performance exceeded market expectations, which ranged from 800,000 to 1.6 million tons. Furthermore, net sales of 281,400 tons were recorded for delivery in the 2026/27 marketing year. On the radar are the slowdown in the 2025/26 corn harvest in Argentina – given the prioritization of soybean crops – and the final development of the second crop in Brazil, which accounts for more than 80% of Brazil's corn supply. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange today raised its projection for the 2025/26 Argentine corn crop by 3 million tons, to 64 million tons.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.