Corn closes Wednesday with a sharp drop on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The September corn contract traded on Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) The futures contract closed this Wednesday (5) with a sharp drop of 5.50 points and 1.24%, quoted at US$ cents 436.75/bushel; the December contract retreated 5.50 points and 1.18%, to US$ cents 460.00/bushel. For the week, futures accumulated partial losses of 0.91% and 0.86%, respectively. In this trading session, cereal prices were pressured by weather conditions favorable to crop development in the Corn Belt. The daily bulletin from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicates that rain showers and storms associated with a cold front are extending to the southwest of the Corn Belt from the Great Lakes region. "The front separates a mass of cooler air over the upper Midwest from warm, humid conditions in the eastern portion of the Corn Belt. Recent and ongoing rains, combined with near- or below-average temperatures, have favored the development of corn and soybean crops," he states. WTI crude oil continues to fall on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), a factor that reduces the competitiveness of US corn-based ethanol. Earlier, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US ethanol production fell to 1.107 million barrels per day in the week ending July 31, compared to 1.133 million bpd in the previous week. Stocks of the biofuel decreased from 24.726 to 24.524 million barrels during the period. On the radar are the winter crop harvest in the Center-South of Brazil and the progress of fieldwork in Argentina – both are nearing completion, with positive production expectations.

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.