Corn Wraps Week in Red as Demand Shifts

Corn futures stumbled into the weekend, with front-month contracts closing slightly lower across the board. December corn—which expired options today—dropped 4.75 cents for the week, while the national cash price sat at $3.87, down a penny.

Production Side: USDA’s Grain Crushing report revealed 463.44M bushels of corn went into ethanol production in August. That’s technically up 1.2% from July, but here’s the catch—it’s down 3.36% year-over-year. Fewer bushels making it into biofuel = potential headwind for demand.

Positioning Shift: Managed money traders flipped more bearish. Latest CFTC data shows they’re holding a net short of 141,966 contracts, adding 6,656 shorts in just one week. When big money starts shorting, it’s worth watching.

South America Update: Buenos Aires pegs Argentina’s corn planting at 37.3%—up only 0.7 points weekly and already behind last year’s pace. The silver lining? 79% of what’s planted rates excellent to normal, so quality is solid for now.

Price Action:

• Dec 25 Corn: $4.25½ (-1¢)
• Mar 26 Corn: $4.37½ (-0.25¢)
• May 26 Corn: $4.44¾ (-0.5¢)

Bottomline: Weak export demand + rising spec shorts = this rally looks fragile. Watch if prices break below support next week.