Corn heads for 4th straight weekly gain on falling US stockpiles

Chicago corn futures edged lower on Friday after disappointing U.S. export data but were on track for a fourth consecutive weekly gain underpinned by expectations that U.S. supply will tighten.

Wheat and soybeans also fell, partly due to a strengthening U.S. dollar making U.S. crops costlier for overseas buyers. FRX/

The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Cv1 was down 0.1% at $4.43 a bushel by 0436 GMT but was up 0.7% for the week.

Prices surged to a 5-1/2-month high of $4.51-1/4 on Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut its estimate for U.S. end-of-season corn stockpiles to 1.738 billion bushels from 1.938 billion.

But USDA weekly export data on Thursday showed net U.S. corn sales at 946,900 metric tons, below analyst forecasts for at least 1.1 million tons, puncturing the rally’s momentum. A stronger dollar could also crimp exports.

“We expect that there will be an increase in profit taking as the market has reached its highest level since June,” said Andrew Whitelaw at agricultural consultants Episode 3 in Canberra.

Analysts at Rabobank said they expected CBOT corn to average $4.32 a bushel in the first quarter of 2025.

They said a late start to planting of Brazil’s safrinha corn crop meant it could have less time to mature before the onset of the dry season, posing a risk to yields.

In other crops, CBOT soybeans Sv1 fell 0.5% to $9.91-1/4 a bushel and headed for a 0.3% weekly loss, and wheat Wv1 slipped 0.2% to $5.57-1/2 a bushel and was almost unchanged from last Friday’s close.

U.S. weekly soybean sales of 1,173,800 metric tons were also below trade estimates, although the USDA later announced another 334,000 tons of daily sales to undisclosed buyers.

The threat of huge South American production hangs over the soybean market, keeping CBOT prices close to four-year lows.

Brazilian national crop agency Conab and oilseed crushing group Abiove on Thursday increased their estimates for the country’s 2025 soybean crop, which could reach record levels following improved weather conditions.

Conab said Brazil could harvest 166.21 million metric tons and Abiove predicted 168.7 million tons.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala)