Corn Futures Down in Afternoon Trade; New Crop Gains Highlight $3.94 Cash Close

Corn futures ended slightly lower in afternoon trading on February 13, 2026, with near-month contracts down 1.5 cents and new crop contracts up 1.0 to 2.25 cents. The CommodityView national average Cash Corn price closed at $3.94, down 1.25 cents from the prior day. The December 2026 contract average closed at $4.58, used as a base for crop insurance. USDA reported a private export sale of 230,560 metric tons of corn on February 11, with traders expecting 0.6–1.1 MMT of 2025/26 corn to be sold in the week of February 5–9 and 0–100,000 MT of 2026/27 corn. Ethanol production rose 154,000 bpd to 1.11 million bpd in the week ending February 13; stocks climbed 111,000 to 25.247 million bbls. Exports fell 79,000 bpd to 137,000 bpd while refiner inputs increased 50,000 bpd to 841,000 bpd. Mar 26 Corn closed at $4.27 1/2, down 1 1/4 cent; Nearby Cash at $3.94, down 1 1/4 cent; May 26 Corn at $4.36 1/2, down 3/4 cent; Jul 26 Corn at $4.44 1/4, down 1/2 cent.