International Corn Market Update

04-Apr-2025 08:15 AM

International Corn Market Update
In the "Liberation Day" tariff announcement made on Wednesday, Mexico and Canada were excluded from the list, as all USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) compliant goods remain exempt. Among other major U.S. corn buyers, Japan will face a 24% tariff, South Korea 25%, and Colombia 10%. These tariffs will take effect on April 9, while the 10% tariff becomes effective from April 5. So far, no retaliatory measures have been taken by any country.
According to export sales data for the week ending March 27, corn sales for the 2024/25 marketing year totaled 1.173 million metric tons (MMT), which falls within the trade estimate range of 0.8 to 1.6 MMT. This is a 12.9% increase from the previous week and 23.8% higher than the same week last year.
During this week:
South Korea was the largest buyer with 339,400 metric tons,
Mexico purchased 226,500 metric tons,
Japan bought 168,500 metric tons.
New crop sales totaled 165,000 metric tons—all sold to Japan—exceeding the trade estimate of 0–100,000 MT.
According to Census data, corn exports for the month of February reached 6.03 million metric tons (237.5 million bushels). This is down 2.11% from January but up 12.33% compared to the same month last year, making it the third-largest February export on record.
Total corn exports for the marketing year reached 1.207 billion bushels by the end of February.
Exports of Dried Distillers Grains (DDG) fell to 849,645 metric tons—lower than last year—while ethanol exports stood at 138.75 million gallons, just 0.2% below 2024 levels.