Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures settled near unchanged on Thursday as traders squared positions ahead of US government stocks and plantings reports that are due for release on Friday, traders said. CBOT May corn settled up 1/4 cent at $3.74 per bushel. The contract held chart support at its low for the week and at its 20-day moving average. The market weighed concerns about potential US planting delays due to flooding in the western Corn Belt against prospects for a massive South American harvest.
The US Department of Agriculture is due to release its prospective plantings report on Friday. Analysts, on average, expect the USDA to peg corn plantings at 91.332 million acres, up from 89.129 million last year.
Friday's plantings data will reflect farmers' seeding plans before extensive flooding in the western Corn Belt, including in major corn producers Iowa and Nebraska.
The USDA said export sales of corn last week were 989,900 tonnes in the latest week, in line with forecasts for 700,000 to 1.350 million tonnes.
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