At 10:15 am (Brasilia time) this Friday (29), the July corn contract traded on Chicago Stock Exchange (CBOT) The price showed a moderate decrease of 2.75 points and 0.60%, quoted at US$ cents 453.00/bushel, with an accumulated loss of 2.21% in the week and 4.58% in April. The September contract fell 2.50 points and 0.54%, to US$ cents 461.75/bushel – a weekly and monthly devaluation of 1.70% and 3.75%, respectively. On the previous day (28), the July contract advanced 0.77%, to US$ cents 456.00/bushel, and the September contract rose 0.98%, to US$ cents 464.25/bushel. This morning, cereal prices were pressured by the sharp fall in oil on the international market, a factor that reduces the competitiveness of US ethanol produced from corn, and by the slowdown in international demand. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released data showing that net corn export sales for the 2025/26 marketing year totaled 1.015 million tons in the week ending May 21, a volume 52% lower compared to the previous week and 30% below the average of the last four weeks. For delivery in the 2026/27 marketing year, net sales of 618,600 tons were recorded last week. The market remains attentive to the completion of planting for the 2026/27 crop in the Corn Belt and to the weather conditions for crop development. In its weather bulletin today, the USDA reported that predominantly sunny weather and temperatures within the seasonal average favor the rapid progress of planting and emergence of corn in the Corn Belt, although temperatures of 32°C have already reached the upper Midwest of the USA. "The short-term drought – over the last 30 days – in many producing areas in the west and north contrasts with the wet weather recorded during the same period in the Ohio Valley and neighboring regions," states the USDA. Yesterday's Drought Monitor showed that 25% of corn crops are in areas experiencing some degree of drought, the same level observed last week and slightly above the 23% recorded during the same period of the previous season. On the radar are the start of the second crop harvest in Brazil – which accounts for about 80% of the national supply – and the progress of fieldwork in Argentina.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.