Corn futures ended Friday's trading session with gains of 4 to 5 cents in the front-month contracts, recouping some of the losses seen earlier in the week. The March contract finished the week down 21 cents, representing a 4.71% decline. The national average cash corn price rose 6 cents to $3.89 1/2.
Trading will be suspended on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. Markets are scheduled to reopen on Monday evening.
Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission revealed that managed money traders added 65,348 contracts to their net short position in corn futures and options as of January 13. This brought their total net short position to 81,774 contracts. The increase was largely driven by new short interest, which reached its highest level since October, while long positions fell to their smallest since November.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported private export sales this morning totaling 298,000 metric tons of corn to unknown destinations, with an additional 120,000 metric tons destined for Japan. This brings the total flash sales for the week to 1.83 million metric tons.
USDA Export Sales data as of January 8 shows corn commitments, including both shipped and unshipped sales, at 52.035 million metric tons. This figure is 29% higher than the same week last year. It represents 64% of USDA's forecast, exceeding the average sales pace of 62%. Meanwhile, actual shipment data from the Foreign Agricultural Service stands at 28.97 million metric tons, which is 36% of USDA's projection, compared to an average shipping pace of 26%.
Specific contract prices at Friday's close were: March 26 corn at $4.24 3/4, up 4 1/2 cents; nearby cash at $3.87 0/1, up 4 3/4 cents; May 26 corn at $4.32, up 4 1/4 cents; and July 26 corn at $4.38, up 4 cents.