Corn Closes with Fractional Price Movement

By Austin Schroeder

Corn futures closed out a quiet Thursday session with fractional losses in the front months and fractional gains in other contracts. The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price was down ¼ cent at $4.08 1/2. 

Export Sales data from this morning showed just 377,598 MT of corn sold in the week ending on January 1, shy of the 0.7-1.5 MMT estimates for 2025/26. That was a marketing year low and 15.1% below the same week last year. The largest buyer was South Korea at 139,000 MT, with 108,100 MT to Japan. Sales for 2026/27 were tallied at 11,860 MT, between the 0-100,000 MT expectations. 

Census data showed a delayed update for October exports, with a record 6.564 MMT (248.5 mbu) of corn shipped during the month. That was a drop of 5.93% from September but up 63.38% from the same month in 2024. Distillers exports were just shy of last year’s October record at 1.067 MMT. Ethanol shipments were back at a record pace of the month at 185 million gallons. 

USDA’s WASDE report will be out on Monday, with a Bloomberg survey showing analysts looking for stocks to be tallied at 1.985 bbu, a 44 mbu reduction if realized.