CBOT corn ends firm on US weather woes, bargain buying

CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended modestly higher on Wednesday on bargain-buying and worries that a blizzard would cause planting delays in northwestern portions of the US Corn Belt, traders said.

CBOT May corn settled up 1-3/4 cents at $3.61-3/4 per bushel, rebounding a day after hitting a contract low of $3.55-1/4.

Commodity funds hold a massive net short position, leaving the market prone to bouts of short-covering.

China's Ministry of Commerce is set to review its anti-dumping tariffs on imports from the United States of corn-based distillers grains, an animal feed ingredient, according to a document issued by the China Alcoholic Drinks Association.

US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Tuesday that talks with China about reducing Beijing's tariff on US ethanol products were "positive," but cautioned the discussions were not over.

Rallies capped by ample US corn supplies. The US Department of Agriculture this week raised its forecast of US and global corn supplies more than most analysts expected.

The US Energy Information Administration said weekly US output of corn-based ethanol rose to 1.0 million barrels per day, while stocks fell to 23.19 million barrels.

Ahead of the USDA's weekly export sales report on Thursday, analysts expected the government to report US corn export sales in the week to April 4 at 650,000 to 1,150,000 tonnes (old and new crop years combined).