Corn Dropped Double Digits to Round Out July

Futures ended the Monday session ~5c off their session lows but still 10 3/4 to 17 1/4 cents in the red. That completed the month of July with an 18 1/4 cent range for the December contract. 

USDA’s weekly Crop Progress report had 84% of the crop silking at the national level, compared to 68% last week and 82% on average. NASS also had 29% in the dough stage, matching the average pace. Crop conditions were 55% good/ex, which was down 2ppts from last week with 1% point to each. That reduced the Brugler500 score to 345, from 351 last week. By state, Texas and Kansas fell the most each by more than 20 points from last week. IA, MN, MO, NE, and the Dakotas were also lower on their respective Brugler500 index. 

NOAA’s 7-day QPF shows some rain along the Southern IL/MO border amounting to  as much as 4”. Michigan and Wisconsin will miss out entirely, while MN, and the Northern portions of ECB states will see less than 1/2”. MO through NE and KS will see some rain this week, though accumulations are spotty and limited to 1 3/4”. 

Weekly Inspections data showed 522,927 MT of corn was shipped during the week that ended 7/27. That was up 193k MT for the week, but down from 905k MT during the same week last year. USDA also added 53.6k MT to past reports, which left the season’s total at 34.809 MMT. That remains 33% behind last year’s pace. 

Argentina has a special peso exchange rate in effect for export sales, in order to capture export taxes on corn. About 2.4 MMT has been sold under the program to date, with a target of 4-5 MMT by the end of August. 

Sep 23 Corn  closed at $5.04, down 17 cents,

Nearby Cash   was $5.45, down 16 7/8 cents,

Dec 23 Corn  closed at $5.13, down 17 1/4 cents,

Mar 24 Corn  closed at $5.25, down 16 3/4 cents,