CBOT corn ends lower, consolidating ahead of monthly USDA data

• CBOT December corn settled down 1-1/2 cents at $3.94-14 per bushel after reaching $3.97-1/4, its highest since Aug. 12.
• USDA's weekly export sales report, also due on Thursday, traders expected the government to show US corn export sales in the week to Oct. 3 at 500,000 to 800,000 tonnes.

CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended modestly lower on Wednesday, retreating after the lead December contract hit its highest in nearly two months, as traders squared positions a day ahead of a monthly US government crop report.

* CBOT December corn settled down 1-1/2 cents at $3.94-14 per bushel after reaching $3.97-1/4, its highest since Aug. 12.

* Market underpinned by worries about a winter storm in the northern US Plains that is forecast to bring heavy snow to the Dakotas and portions of the Upper Midwest, further delaying a harvest that is already behind the normal pace.

* Ahead of Thursday's monthly supply/demand reports from US Department of Agriculture, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the government to lower its estimates of US 2019/20 corn yield, production and ending stocks.

* Ahead of the USDA's weekly export sales report, also due on Thursday, traders expected the government to show US corn export sales in the week to Oct. 3 at 500,000 to 800,000 tonnes.

* The US Energy Information Administration said weekly US output of corn-based ethanol rose to 963,000 million barrels per day while stocks fell to 21.22 million barrels.