USDA grain reports and Argentina corn planting updates

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a monthly supply and demand report that has tempered bullish market expectations for grains. The agency's corn production cut was smaller than anticipated, and soybean production estimates were actually increased, leading to profit-taking by speculative funds.

In the United States, corn production was reduced by 5.4 million tons to 401.3 million tons, a figure significantly higher than the 16 million ton reduction previously projected by the Pro Farmer tour. While U.S. corn production is down 30 million tons compared to the previous cycle, global corn ending stocks for 2026/27 are projected to be nearly 30 million tons lower than the previous cycle.

In Argentina, the 2026/27 corn planting season has commenced, with 5.5% of the projected 8.4 million hectares already sown. This represents a weekly progress of 4 percentage points and is 1.7 percentage points ahead of the previous campaign. Meanwhile, the 2025/26 corn harvest is nearing completion, having reached 96.9% of the suitable area.