The July corn contract traded on Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) The price of corn closed this Monday (15) with a moderate increase of 2.75 points and 0.67%, quoted at US$ cents 415.50/bushel; the September contract rose 2.00 points and 0.48%, to US$ cents 422.75/bushel. After starting the day lower, pressured by the more than 4% drop in oil prices on the international market, cereal prices ended up gaining strength, with the market betting on a smaller area sown with the cereal in the 2026/27 crop, which should be confirmed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in its annual planted area report, scheduled to be released on June 30. Oil, in turn, ended the day with a significant drop, after authorities from the United States and Iran stated that an initial agreement had been reached to end hostilities in the Persian Gulf and resume traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The devaluation of fossil fuels reduces the competitiveness of US ethanol produced from corn. Corn prices also followed the gains recorded by soybeans and wheat in Chicago, driven by the weakening of the dollar against major global currencies. The DXY traded in negative territory throughout the session. The USDA published earlier that US corn shipments totaled 1.637 million tons in the week ending June 11, a volume 18.7% lower than that recorded in the previous week (2.014 million tons) and 3.4% below that shipped in the same period last year (1.696 million tons). The result was within analysts' projections, which ranged from 1.5 to 2.0 million tons. Shortly, the updated weekly report with the stages and conditions of US crops will be released. In its daily weather report, the USDA indicated that the arrival of a cold front follows a recent period of rain and storms, which caused only isolated damage to crops and agricultural infrastructure. "Nevertheless, most corn and soybean areas in the region have sufficient soil moisture for normal development. Today's maximum temperatures in the Midwest will remain below 27°C, except in parts of the middle Missouri Valley," the USDA states. Also on the radar are the start of the winter corn harvest in Central-Southern Brazil and the progress of fieldwork in Argentina.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.