Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures climbed to a 6-1/2 week high on Friday on short covering ahead of the weekend and a U.S. government crop production update next week, and as U.S. export demand remained strong. However, the grain failed to hold onto the advances and settled with small losses in the most active months.
Wheat was also lower at the final bell, but held above the contract lows hit in the previous session. Soybeans drifted down as early short-covering support faded and the market’s focus returned to a lack of demand for U.S. cargoes from top importer China.
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Wheat and soybeans posted weekly declines, while corn managed a third straight weekly gain, driven by strong export sales and expectations that the U.S. Department of Agriculture would lower its 2025 harvest outlook in a monthly report next week.
“We saw a lot of short covering (in corn), anywhere between 35,000 to 50,000 contracts over the past several sessions, and there’s a little bit of positioning going on there. We have record export commitments going on, not only for old crop, but for new crop,” said Terry Reilly, senior agricultural strategist at Marex.
The USDA on Friday reported net new-crop U.S. corn export sales in the week ended August 28 at 2,117,000 tonnes, near the high end of a range of trade estimates, putting sales commitments 86 per cent ahead of the same time last year. Old-crop sales were a net negative 280,900 tonnes but season-to-date commitments were 26 per cent higher than last year, according to USDA data.
The strong sales pace has offset supply pressure from the USDA’s record-shattering U.S. harvest outlook, although many traders and analysts expect the agency to trim its production forecast in a report next Friday.
New-crop soybean export sales last week fell to a one-month low of 818,474 tons, with no sales to China.
Chicago Board of Trade December corn was 1.75 cents lower at $4.18 a bushel. November soybeans were down six cents at $10.27 per bushel and December wheat was down a quarter cent at $5.19-1/4 a bushel.
With additional reporting by Phil Franz-Warkentin
