The July corn contract traded on Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) The price of corn closed this Tuesday (23) with a slight drop of 1.75 points and 0.43%, quoted at US$ cents 409.75/bushel; the September contract fell 2.00 points and 0.48%, to US$ cents 417.75/bushel. After starting the day higher, cereal prices ended up losing strength, pressured by the good pace of development of the 2026/27 crop in the Corn Belt and by favorable weather conditions. The daily bulletin from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicates that rains are returning to the western part of the Corn Belt, from the Dakotas southward. "Meanwhile, the rest of the Midwest remains under the influence of cool and dry weather, amid generally favorable growing conditions," it states. The market awaits the release of the annual planted area report, which will be released next Tuesday (30). The expectation is that the USDA will indicate an area planted with corn even smaller than the 38.58 million hectares presented in the planting intentions report, which came out at the end of March. Of the total planted area, 97% has already reached the emergence stage, a pace in line with the previous season and the average of the last five years. Furthermore, 5% of the crops are already in the silking stage, slightly ahead of the previous season (4%) and the normal average (3%). As for conditions, 68% were classified as good/excellent in the week ending June 21 – the same percentage recorded in the previous week, but below the 70% of the last season. Of the remainder, 26% were rated as fair and 6% as poor/very poor. Oil – which directly influences the competitiveness of US corn-based ethanol – fell almost 1% in the international market, pressured by the resumption of flow in the Strait of Hormuz, while negotiations between the United States and Iran for a ceasefire in the Middle East continue. Meanwhile, the DXY – an index that compares the strength of the dollar against major global currencies – traded higher throughout the day. Near the close of trading on the CBOT, the indicator was up 0.45%. Limiting further gains, the USDA reported earlier that a single sale of 100,000 tons of corn to Mexico had been made, with 30,000 tons scheduled for delivery in the 2025/26 marketing year and 70,000 tons in the 2026/27 season. In South America, the 2025/26 winter crop harvest is gaining momentum in Brazil, with production expected to reach 112 million tons, the second-highest volume in history, behind only the last harvest, according to projections by DATAGRO Grãos. In Argentina, the 2025/26 harvest is approaching half of the cultivated area, with the less optimistic USDA projection pointing to a harvest of 61 million tons. Local agricultural entities, such as the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange and the Rosario Stock Exchange, estimate production at 64 and 68 million tons, respectively.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.