Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Board of Trade corn futures closed lower on Friday after the market stormed to an 18-month high on strong U.S. export demand, traders said.
Prices cooled as traders booked profits before the weekend and anticipated that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will project large U.S. plantings and yields for the 2025 crop at a conference next week.
Forecasts for widespread rain in Argentina’s farm belt and parts of Brazil next week added pressure on futures, traders said.
Soybean futures also weakened, while wheat futures rose.
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Traders expect the recent surge in corn prices will encourage U.S. farmers to plant more of the grain this spring, as the crop looks more profitable than soybeans. Agricultural lender CoBank projected on Thursday that corn plantings will jump about four per cent from 2024 to 94.55 million acres.
The USDA is slated to issue crop estimates at its annual Agricultural Outlook Forum next week.
“Everyone knows it’s going to be somewhat bearish,” said Angie Setzer, partner at Consus Ag.
Most-active corn futures Cv1 ended down 7-3/4 cents at $5.05 per bushel after rising to $5.13-1/4, a price last seen in August 2023. Before the setback, the contract had gained 12 per cent since the start of the year.
Export demand has been robust as U.S. prices have been attractive on the global market.
In the week ended on February 13, U.S. corn export sales for 2024-25 reached 1.45 million metric tons, according to the USDA. That was toward the high end of analysts’ estimates for 900,000 to 1.6 million metric tons.
U.S. soybean export demand has been less impressive amid competition from top-supplier Brazil, which is expected to harvest a record crop, traders said.
Weekly U.S. soybean export sales for 2024-25 were 480,300 metric tons, compared to analysts’ estimates for 100,000 to 500,000 tons.
Most-active soybean futures Sv1 closed 5-3/4 cents weaker at $10.57-1/4 per bushel. Wheat futures Wv1 advanced 3-3/4 cents to $6.04 per bushel.
—Additional reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra
