CBOT corn ends lower in profit-taking pause after three-year highs
CORN•Deliveries against September contract
The CBOT reported 256 deliveries against the September CU26 contract, with the Term Commodities house account receiving 51 lots and the Bunge house account stopping 37 lots. COR/DEL
Corn futures ease after hitting a three-year high
Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended lower on Wednesday on profit-taking after the benchmark contract set a three-year high, but uncertainty about U.S. yields and conflict in the Black Sea grain-exporting region underpinned the market, traders said.
- Russia sees no grounds for the Black Sea grain deal to resume, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told reporters, as Russia and Ukraine continue to attack each other's grain export facilities.
- CBOT December corn CZ26 settled down 2-1/2 cents at $5.43-1/2 per bushel, retreating after posting a life-of-contract high of $5.49-3/4.
- The session top of $5.49-3/4 was also the highest on a continuous chart of the most-active corn contract Cv1 since July 2023.
Yield expectations and export demand remain in focus
A farmer survey conducted by brokerage Allendale forecast the U.S. 2026 corn yield at 178.7 bushels per acre, below the USDA's last estimate of 180.7. The USDA is scheduled to release updated crop estimates on September 11.
Farmers have agreed to sell an estimated 29% of their new-crop corn, up from 15% a year ago, Allendale said. The pace of new-crop sales was the highest since 2022, the firm said.
Ahead of Thursday's weekly USDA export sales report, traders expected the government to report net export sales of U.S. old-crop corn in the week ended August 27 at up to 200,000 metric tons and new-crop sales of up to 1.6 million tons.
