Corn futures are fading off the attempted early morning strength, as contracts are down 2 to 3 cents at midday. July options expire today, with $4.40 a possible pin. Futures seem reluctant to take off to the upside, as the sentiment of ‘rain makes grain’ is on the mind of many with precip expected over the weekend across a decent portion of the Corn Belt.

This morning’s delayed Export Sales report tallied old crop corn export bookings at just 511,432 MT during the week of June 13. That was a 9-week low and shy of the trade’s estimated range of 0.7-1.2 MMT. Japan took a bulk of the total, at 370,600 MT (though 355,100 MT was switched from unknown), with Columbia in for 113,900 MT. Unknown destinations saw a bunch of switching, with net reductions of 418,400 MT. New crop sales were in the middle of the expected 0-200,000 MT estimate at 93,640 MT.

A couple international tenders by South Korean importers saw separate purchases of 66,000 MT and 132,000 MT of corn on Friday morning. Origins weren’t reported but thought to be South American.  

Jul 24 Corn is at $4.37, down 2 3/4 cents,

Nearby Cash is at $4.22 1/2, down 3 cents,

Sep 24 Corn is at $4.42 3/4, down 2 cents,

Dec 24 Corn is at $4.54 3/4, down 2 cents,

New Crop Cash is at $4.17 3/4, down 3 3/4 cents,