Corn Rallies Back on Monday

Group 1 - Corn futures experienced gains, with front months rising by 6 to 7 cents, and the national average cash corn price increased by 7.5 cents to $4.06 ¾ [1] - USDA reported corn export shipments at 1.207 million metric tons (MMT) during the week ending January 1, which is 9.6% lower than the previous week but 37.58% higher than the same week last year [2] - The marketing year exports for 2025/26 reached 26.81 MMT (1.06 billion bushels), representing a 64.83% increase compared to the same period last year [2] Group 2 - Export sales data indicated a total of 756,419 MT of corn sold in the week of December 25, marking a marketing year low and a 2.6% decrease from the same holiday week last year [3] - Commitment of Traders data showed managed money shifted to a net short position of 23,584 contracts in corn futures and options as of December 30, a change of 26,343 contracts [3] - Closing prices for corn futures included Mar 26 at $4.44 ½ (up 7 cents), May 26 at $4.52 (up 6 ½ cents), and Jul 26 at $4.58 ¼ (up 6 ¼ cents) [3]