At 10:25 am (Brasilia time) this Tuesday (21), the September corn contract traded on Chicago Stock Exchange (CBOT) The price showed a moderate decrease of 2.50 points and 0.56%, quoted at US$ cents 447.0/bushel. Yesterday (20), the spot price rose 1.07%, to US$ cents 449.50/bushel. This morning, cereal prices were pressured by the good pace of development of the 2026/27 corn crop in the Corn Belt and by the strengthening of the dollar against the main global currencies, with the DXY falling 0.15%. A survey conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) until Sunday (19) shows that 59% of the area sown with corn reached the silking stage, after an advance of 25 percentage points in a week. At the same time last year, 53% of the crops were at this stage; on average over the last five years, 54%. In addition, 13% of the area has already entered the silking stage, compared to 6% the previous week. The percentage coincides with that observed in the same period last year and exceeds the multi-year average (11%). Regarding crop conditions, 67% were classified as good/excellent, down 1 percentage point from the previous week and still lower than the 74% recorded at the same time in 2025. Of the remainder, 24% were rated as fair and 9% as poor/very poor. US producers allocated less area to corn planting this year, and therefore, the country's production is expected to decline by 6% this season, to 406.42 million tons. The market continues to monitor weather conditions for the coming weeks, which should define the true size of the new crop. "The heat is restricted to the southern Corn Belt. Meanwhile, storms associated with a cold front are extending southwest from the lower Great Lakes region. The rest of the Midwest is being gradually covered by a cooler, drier air mass," says the USDA in its daily weather bulletin. "Despite recent climate challenges, caused by high temperatures and reduced topsoil moisture, about two-thirds of US crops remained in good condition," it concludes. However, greater losses were limited by the more than 1% increase in oil prices on the international market, a factor that increases the competitiveness of US corn-based ethanol. On the radar are the ongoing harvests in Brazil and Argentina.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.