Briefs on corn, white maize, masa flour and tortilla prices in the U.S. and Mexico. Sources include CBOT futures, USDA reports, Mexico's agriculture ministry and regional tortillería associations. 8 stories, newest first.
CBOT December 2026 corn settled at 448.75 cents a bushel on Tuesday, Oct. 27, down 6.25 cents and its lowest close since July, according to USDA AMS and Total Farm Marketing. USDA says 60% of the U.S. corn crop was harvested as of Oct. 25, 6 points behind the five-year average.
Follow-up: Guerrero's masa-and-tortilla trade group now says it will decide in December whether to raise tortilla prices, after saying in early October that it would hold them through year-end. Members are buying corn from Sinaloa, Jalisco and Michoacán at up to MX$10,500 a ton and have asked the state for a corn-purchase subsidy, En Primer Plano reported.
CBOT December 2026 corn settled at 467.00¢/bu on Oct. 19, down from 480.75¢ on Oct. 14 and 474.25¢ on Oct. 16, according to USDA AMS grain reports. Central Illinois country elevators averaged $4.37 cash.
Following our Puebla–Morelos roundup, regional masa-and-tortilla groups report fresh cost pressure. In Sinaloa, the industrialists' federation says flour rose MX$450/t in February, sales are down as much as 30%, and 42 tortillerías closed (11 since reopened); the group is seeking federal/state help to hold the kilo near MX$29. In Guerrero, drought cut local maize output by as much as 60%, pushing Costa Chica corn to MX$9,000–10,000/t from MX$6,500–7,000 and forcing purchases from Sinaloa, Jalisco and Michoacán at about 30% more; industrialists say they will hold prices through year-end. In Chiapas, where nearly all shops run on flour, the group says flour suppliers have not raised prices and the kilo holds at MX$18–25.
Broker desk Walsh Trading (Oct 2) said December ’26 corn settled at 497.75¢/bu (−5), closing under 500¢ after a 502.25 high that session. WSJ market data shows the Oct 5 settle at 497.25¢. USDA’s October WASDE is due Friday, Oct 9. Weekly commodities note for tortilla/masa cost readers; Walsh is broker commentary (solicitation), not research.
USDA FAS GAIN MX2026-0045 (Sep 23, 2026) forecasts Mexico MY 2026/27 corn production near 24.5 MMT (~2% lower y/y) on weak profitability, high inputs, and erratic weather, with corn imports near 26.8 MMT and total corn use ~52.4 MMT. U.S. remains the dominant origin; 2025/26 import mix was ~98% yellow / ~2% white. Text-only commodities brief for U.S. export and masa/tortilla readers.
Puebla-region masa/tortilla industrialists say April–May harvest reserves are largely gone and private white maize jumped about 29.7% in roughly a month (≈MX$7,400 to MX$9,600/t), with tortilla averages near MX$18/kg and room for MX$19–20 in Puebla/Amozoc. In Morelos, the sector council ties drought scarcity to maize near MX$9,000/t and some shops at MX$30/kg (to MX$32 with delivery). SADER still says inventories are adequate. Framed for U.S. trade readers as white-maize cost context.
Mexico’s agriculture ministry (SADER) says white-corn inventories are sufficient and expects tortilla prices to stay broadly stable even after white corn rose about 6% over four weeks (~MX$400/t). Cost math and SNIIM shelf averages give U.S. masa and tortilla plants a Mexico price-context snapshot.