Front month corn futures ended the session with 2 ½ to 4 cent gains. The Dec contract ended just 1 ¼ cents off the high after nearly a 10 cent range for the day. 

The weekly NASS Crop Progress report had 95% of the corn crop in or beyond the dent stage, which was up 5% points from last week and remains 2 ppts ahead of average. NASS reported 70% was mature, up 16% points for the week and 10 ppts ahead of average. National harvest advanced 6 ppts to 15% complete – including 38% in IA, 10% in IL, and 15% in NE. The average harvest completion rate is 13% for week 38. National conditions improved 1 G and 1 E for a 6 point increase on the Brugler500 to 338. Remaining IA corn was rated at 338 as well, up 5 points for the week, while IL improved a sharp 33 points to 352. 

USDA reported a private export sale of 1.661 MMT of corn to Mexico. That was split between 1.05 MMT for 23/24 and 611k MT for 24/25 delivery. 

USDA’s weekly inspections data had 660.8k MT (26 mbu) of corn shipments for the week that ended 9/21. That was near last week’s volume and was up 20% from the same week last year. Mexico was the top destination with 360k MT, followed by China with 140k MT. The report had accumulated shipments at 1.96 MMT (77.3 mbu) through 9/21, which is 16% ahead of last year’s pace. 

Dec 23 Corn  closed at $4.81 1/4, up 4 cents,

Nearby Cash  was $4.53, up 3 1/4 cents,

Mar 24 Corn  closed at $4.95 3/4, up 3 1/2 cents,

May 24 Corn  closed at $5.04 1/4, up 3 1/4 cents,