CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade corn futures closed lower on Thursday, led by weakness in soybeans and forecasts for mild weather in the US Midwest crop belt this month, traders said.
CBOT December corn settled down 1-1/4 cents at $3.77-3/4 per bushel after dipping to $3.75, its lowest since June 26.
Radar showed beneficial rains falling in Iowa and Minnesota, and forecasts call for mild temperatures in the Corn Belt through mid-August as the crop fills kernels.
Disappointing export sales added pressure. The USDA reported export sales of US corn in the latest week at 475,000 tonnes (old and new marketing years combined), below a range of trade expectations for 500,000 to 900,000 tonnes.
Market underpinned by fears that the USDA in monthly supply/demand reports next week might lower its forecast of the US 2017 corn yield from its current trend-based figure of 170.7 bushels per acre (bpa).
Private analytics firm Informa Economics projected US 2017 corn production at 13.852 billion bushels based on an average yield of 165.9 bpa, trade sources said.
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