Corn futures ended the holiday shortened week with losses of 3 ¼ to 4 ¾ cents on Friday, as the weekly change for July was 15 cents to the downside. July options expired today. Futures continue to feel pressure, as the sentiment of ‘rain makes grain’ is on the mind of many with precip expected to continue over the weekend across a decent portion of the Corn Belt. 

This morning’s delayed Export Sales report tallied old crop corn export bookings at just 511,432 MT during the week of June 13. That was a 9-week low and shy of the trade’s estimated range of 0.7-1.2 MMT. Japan took a bulk of the total, at 370,600 MT (though 355,100 MT was switched from unknown), with Columbia in for 113,900 MT. Unknown destinations saw a bunch of switching, with net reductions of 418,400 MT. New crop sales were in the middle of the expected 0-200,000 MT estimate at 93,640 MT.

A couple international tenders by South Korean importers saw separate purchases of 66,000 MT and 132,000 MT of corn on Friday morning. Origins weren’t reported but thought to be South American.  

Jul 24 Corn  closed at $4.35, down 4 3/4 cents,

Nearby Cash  was $4.20 1/2, down 5 cents,

Sep 24 Corn  closed at $4.40 1/2, down 4 1/4 cents,

Dec 24 Corn  closed at $4.53 1/4, down 3 1/2 cents,

New Crop Cash  was $4.15 3/4, down 5 3/4 cents,