The July corn contract traded on Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) The futures contract closed this Thursday (18) with a moderate drop of 3.50 points and 0.83%, quoted at US$ cents 417.50/bushel; the September contract fell 4.25 points and 0.99%, to US$ cents 425.25/bushel. However, for the week, futures accumulated gains of 1.15% and 1.07%, respectively. Tomorrow (19), trading will be suspended on the CBOT due to the Juneteenth holiday in the United States. In this trading session, cereal prices were pressured by the devaluation of oil in the international market, a factor that reduces the competitiveness of North American ethanol produced from corn. The market also kept an eye on the development of the 2026/27 crop in the Corn Belt, whose harvest has already been completed and more than 90% of the crops have already entered the emergence phase. The daily bulletin from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that storms recorded last night caused localized damage from strong winds and hail from eastern Iowa to southern Ohio. On Thursday, cool and dry weather prevailed over most producing states, although most summer crops in the Midwest still have adequate to abundant soil moisture levels after the recent severe weather events. As of June 14, more than two-thirds (68%) of U.S. corn crops were rated in good to excellent condition. The USDA also reported earlier that export sales records for the 2025/26 marketing year totaled 1.157 million tons in the week ending June 11, exceeding the volume recorded the previous week. For delivery in the 2026/27 season, export sales records totaled 519,000 tons in the period. Both performances were within market expectations. Limiting further gains, the USDA reported a single sale of 285,775 tons of corn to Mexico, with delivery scheduled for the 2026/27 marketing year. On the radar are the start of the winter crop harvest in Center-South Brazil and the progress of fieldwork in Argentina.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.