U.S. corn futures fell 1.6% on Monday, retreating from multi-month highs reached last week, as profit-taking and favorable weather forecasts for South America weighed on prices, analysts said.
Wheat and soybean futures also followed corn lower, with no major news to provide support.
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) benchmark May corn futures contract (CK25) settled 8 cents lower at $4.97 a bushel, retreating from last week’s high of $5.18-3/4, the highest level in over a year. Meanwhile, May soybeans (SK25) ended down 9-3/4 cents at $10.47-1/2 a bushel, and May wheat (WK25) dropped 10-1/2 cents to settle at $5.33-1/2 a bushel.
Corn led the decline, with commodity funds holding a significant net long position in CBOT corn futures, making the market susceptible to bouts of long liquidation. On Friday, corn futures fell, and open interest declined, indicating that traders were exiting long positions.
StoneX chief commodity economist Arlan Suderman noted in a client report that the trend of selling continued on Monday, driven by improving corn crop prospects in South America and expectations for increased U.S. planted acreage in the coming season.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is set to release crop estimates at its annual Agricultural Outlook Forum on February 27. CoBank, a farming lender, forecast last week that U.S. farmers will plant 94.55 million acres of corn in 2025, marking a 4% increase from 2024.
“Markets are anticipating that the USDA will raise its estimate for U.S. corn plantings this week, putting downward pressure on prices after last week’s highs,” said Matt Ammermann, commodity risk manager at StoneX.
Soybeans showed resilience, even as consultancy AgRural revised its forecast for Brazil’s soybean crop down to 168.2 million metric tons, from the 171 million previously estimated in January. However, the revised estimate still suggests Brazil will achieve its largest-ever soybean harvest.
Wheat futures also declined due to a lack of weather concerns in the Northern Hemisphere and slow global export demand. The Russian weather forecasting agency indicated that late winter frosts in Russia’s southern breadbasket regions are unlikely to cause significant damage to winter crops, which further pressured wheat prices.
