ZC Futures (Corn): Tick Value, Expiries, Order Flow
ZC, the CBOT Corn future, covers 5,000 bushels with a tick of 1/4 cent per bushel, worth $12.50. ZCZ6, the front month on September 25, 2026, has its first notice day November 30, 2026 and last trading day December 14, 2026.
Senzoukria · Futures contracts · Updated September 2026
Contract specifications
- Exchange
- CBOT (CME Group)
- Contract unit
- 5,000 bushels
- Tick size
- 1/4 cent per bushel
- Tick value
- $12.50
- Value of one cent per bushel
- $50
- Listed months in Senzoukria
- H, K, N, U, Z (Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Dec)
- Last trading day
- Business day before the 15th of the contract month
- Settlement
- Physical delivery
- Front month on Sep 25, 2026
- ZCZ6
ZC contract specifications
The contract unit is 5,000 bushels, quoted in cents per bushel. The minimum fluctuation is 1/4 cent per bushel, worth $12.50 per contract, and one cent per bushel is worth $50 per contract. Open contracts are settled by delivery no later than the second business day after the last trading day. Senzoukria's contract table holds the tick as 0.25 with a multiplier of 50 on the CBOT venue code.
ZC last trading day and next contracts
No trades are made after the business day preceding the 15th calendar day of the contract month.
Senzoukria's expiry engine keys on the last trading day, not on first notice day, so its default switch comes after first notice. For ZCZ6, the default moves to the next listed month on December 10, 2026 (4 calendar days before December 14, 2026), and ZCZ6 stays selectable with its badge until that date.
| Contract | Delivery month | First notice day | Last trading day |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZCZ6 | December 2026 | Nov 30, 2026 (Mon) | Dec 14, 2026 (Mon) |
| ZCH7 | March 2027 | Feb 26, 2027 (Fri) | Mar 12, 2027 (Fri) |
| ZCK7 | May 2027 | Apr 30, 2027 (Fri) | May 14, 2027 (Fri) |
| ZCN7 | July 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 (Wed) | Jul 14, 2027 (Wed) |
| ZCU7 | September 2027 | Aug 31, 2027 (Tue) | Sep 14, 2027 (Tue) |
ZC tick value and P&L arithmetic
- One tick = 0.25 × $50 = $12.50 per contract.
- One cent per bushel = 4 ticks = $50 per contract.
- 20 ticks (5 cents) = $250 per contract, $750 on 3 contracts.
- One tick of slippage in the automatic backtest costs $12.50 per contract on each entry.
Reading ZC order flow
With row resolution off, a ZC footprint has one row per tick of 0.25 cents. The fixed steps give 2 ticks = 0.5, 4 ticks = 1, 8 ticks = 2, 16 ticks = 4, 32 ticks = 8 cents per row.
Senzoukria's contract table expresses corn in cents per bushel: a tick is 0.25 and one cent is worth $50 per contract. Four ticks make a cent, so the fixed 4-tick row step gives exactly one row per cent, and the 2-tick step half-cent rows. ZC and ZW share the quarter-cent tick and the $12.50 tick value but not their books or deliverable grain.
Using ZC in Senzoukria
- Symbol picker on a Rithmic or Databento CME source: type ZC; on September 25, 2026 the listed contract is ZCZ6 (December 2026), in the Grains family.
- Heatmap and DOM show that contract's book with CBOT as the venue in the ladder header.
- Replay lists ZC in the Grains group. In the automatic backtest, set Point value ($) to 50; the field defaults to 2, the MNQ value.
Related pages
- ZW — Wheat
- Tick value
- Front-month contract
- Front month and expiry rules in Senzoukria
- Symbol picker
- Footprint charts
In the same section
Sources
- CBOT Rulebook, Chapter 10: Corn futures (2026-09-25)
- CME Group, Corn futures calendar (2026-09-25)
This page in other languages
Frequently asked questions
- How much is one ZC tick worth?
- $12.50. The tick is 1/4 cent per bushel on 5,000 bushels; in Senzoukria's units that is 0.25 × $50 = $12.50.
- What point value should I enter for ZC in Senzoukria's backtest?
- 50. Corn is expressed in cents per bushel in the contract table, so a one-cent move is 5,000 bushels × $0.01 = $50 per contract.