Corn Futures Slip as Better Crop Ratings Pressure Prices

Key Moments

Corn futures are trading 5 to 6 cents lower on Tuesday morning after a mixed close on Monday.
The latest Crop Progress data showed 16% of the U.S. corn crop silking and 6% in the dough stage, with condition ratings steady at 68% good to excellent.
Weekly corn export inspections reached 1.54 MMT, down 11.26% from the prior week but 17.15% above the same week a year earlier.

Futures Weaken in Early Tuesday Session

Corn futures are under pressure on Tuesday morning, with contracts down 5 to 6 cents in early trade. The market is softening following a mixed session on Monday, when most contracts settled between 1 ½ and 2 ¾ cents higher. July futures slipped ¼ cent into the close.

Preliminary open interest on Monday fell by 7,417 contracts. July futures are set to expire on Tuesday. The CmdtyView national average cash corn price was 1 1/2 cents firmer at $4.10.

U.S. Crop Progress and Condition Ratings

The latest weekly Crop Progress report showed that 16% of the U.S. corn crop was silking as of July 12, running 4 percentage points ahead of the 5-year average. In addition, 6% of the crop had reached the dough stage.

Overall condition ratings held steady at 68% good to excellent. The Brugler500 index, however, moved 2 points higher to 371, signaling an improvement in aggregate crop condition metrics.

Export Inspections Show Mixed Signals

The weekly Export Inspections report recorded corn shipments of 1.54 MMT (60.6 mbu) for the week ended 7/9. That volume represented an 11.26% decline from the previous week but stood 17.15% above the same week a year earlier.

Mexico was the top destination at 400,015 MT, followed by shipments of 300,620 MT to Japan and 204,633 MT to Vietnam. Cumulative exports for the marketing year reached 72.21 MMT (2.843 bbu), running 24.85% ahead of the corresponding period last year.

Brazilian Production Outlook from CONAB

Fresh CONAB data released this morning pegged Brazil’s 2025/26 corn crop at 141.73 MMT, an increase of 1.27 MMT from the prior month’s estimate. The second corn crop projection was raised by 1.56 MMT to 109.43 MMT.

Corn Market Pricing Snapshot

Contract / Cash	Previous Close	Change at Close	Current Move (Tuesday morning)
Jul 26 Corn	$4.37 3/4	down 1/4 cent	currently unch
Nearby Cash	$4.10 1/1	up 1 1/2 cents	n/a
Sep 26 Corn	$4.41	up 1 1/2 cents	currently down 5 1/4 cents
Dec 26 Corn	$4.63 1/4	up 2 1/4 cents	currently down 5 1/2 cents
New Crop Cash	$4.13 1/8	up 1 3/4 cents	n/a

Disclosure

On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.