Due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, markets will remain closed on Monday and will reopen on Monday evening.

According to CFTC data, as of January 13 managed money increased its net short position in corn futures and options by 65,348 contracts. This pushed the total net short position in corn to 81,774 contracts. The increase was mainly driven by new short interest, which is the largest since October, while long positions fell to their lowest level since November.

USDA reported private corn export sales this morning, including 298,000 metric tons to unknown destinations and 120,000 metric tons to Japan. Total flash sales for the week have now reached 1.83 million metric tons.

As per USDA Export Sales data through January 8, total corn commitments (shipped and unshipped sales) stand at 52.035 million metric tons, up 29% from the same week last year. This represents 64% of USDA’s forecast and is ahead of the 62% average sales pace. Meanwhile, FAS actual shipment data shows corn exports of 28.97 million metric tons so far, which is 36% of USDA’s projection, compared to an average shipping pace of 26%.