Corn

The Weekly Crop Progress report indicated that 98% of the U.S. corn crop had matured as of October 20, up from the 95% average. Harvest completion stood at 65%, which is 13 percentage points ahead of the 5-year average.

The USDA reported several private export sales this morning, including 169,926 MT sold to Mexico, 130,000 MT to South Korea, and 198,192 MT to unknown destinations.

The Export Inspections report this morning tallied 999,811 MT (39.36 mbu) shipped in the week ending October 17. This was more than double the same week last year and up 97.35% from the prior week. Of the total, 565,254 MT were bound for Mexico, and 132,799 MT were headed to Columbia. This brought the marketing year total to 5.795 MMT (228.14 mbu), up 30.61% from the same week last year and the highest since the 2018/19 marketing year.

December 2024 corn futures closed at 409.5 cents per bushel, up 4.75 cents, or 1.17%.

Wheat

Wheat markets pulled back from intraday highs on Monday and ended mixed. Chicago SRW futures closed nearly unchanged, while KC HRW contracts were up by 1 3/4 cents. MPLS spring wheat posted losses between 2 and 5 ¼ cents at the close.

The Monday afternoon Crop Progress report indicated that 73% of the U.S. winter wheat crop had been planted as of October 20, which is 3 percentage points behind the normal pace. Emergence was reported at 46%, compared to the 52% average.

Export Inspections data showed that 268,375 MT (9.7 mbu) of wheat were shipped during the week ending October 17, down 28.4% from the prior week but 58.35% higher than the same week last year. Japan was the largest destination with 97,779 MT, followed by Mexico with 50,847 MT. Marketing year shipments have totaled 9.26 MMT (340 mbu), up 33.75% from the same time last year.

December wheat futures closed at 572.25 cents per bushel, down 0.5 cents, or 0.09%.

Soybeans

The Monday Crop Progress report showed that the U.S. soybean harvest was 81% complete as of October 20, well above the 67% 5-year average pace.

The USDA reported private export sales of 116,000 MT of soybeans to unknown destinations this morning, with a total of 264,000 MT sold to unknown destinations during the reporting period.

Weekly Export Inspections data revealed 2.43 MMT (89.42 mbu) of soybeans were shipped during the week ending October 17. This was down 7.4% from the same week last year, but up 27.6% from the previous week. Of the total, 1.687 MMT were destined for China, 159,130 MT for Mexico, and 122,783 MT for Egypt. Year-to-date exports have totaled 7.896 MMT (290.14 mbu), down 2.9% from the same time last year.

In Brazil, the soybean crop was estimated to be 18% planted as of last Thursday, according to AgRural, compared to 30% at the same time last year.

November soybean futures closed at 981 cents per bushel, up 11 cents, or 1.13%.