CBOT corn retreats on US-China tensions

• The benchmark July corn contract fell 1-3/4 cents to $3.25-3/4 a bushel.
• For the week, the most active corn contract gained 2.3%, the crop's largest weekly increase since the week ended November 29, 2019.
• Corn gained 1.7%, its biggest gain since September 2019 and the first monthly gain since December.

CHICAGO: US corn futures fell on Friday after four days of gains, as US President Donald Trump threatened action against China for the country's proposed security restrictions on Hong Kong, retreating from the prior session's five-week highs.

The benchmark July corn contract fell 1-3/4 cents to $3.25-3/4 a bushel.

For the week, the most active corn contract gained 2.3%, the crop's largest weekly increase since the week ended November 29, 2019.

For the month, corn gained 1.7%, its biggest gain since September 2019 and the first monthly gain since December.

President Trump held a news conference on China after the close on Friday over the country's security restrictions on Hong Kong after protests in the financial hub last year. China may reduce its imports of agricultural products from the United States if Washington issues a severe response the new laws, three sources said.

Forecasts for hot and dry weather in the western Corn Belt beginning next week supported futures this week. The market also drew support from an expected shift of some unplanted corn acres to soybean plantings.

The US Energy Information Administration reported a fourth straight weekly increase in ethanol production and a drop in stocks of the corn-based biofuel to the lowest since January.

Ukraine's grain exports have reached a record 54.1 million tonnes so far in the 2019/20 season that began last July, up 17.4% year on year, the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture said on Friday. The exported volume included 28.4 million tonnes of corn.

The US Department of Agriculture on Friday confirmed private sales of 101,600 tonnes of US corn to unknown destinations.