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Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures rose for the first time in seven sessions on Friday after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) lowered its forecast for US corn yields and production in a monthly report, traders said.
CBOT December corn touched a 5-1/2 week low of $3.72-1/2 ahead of the report, but closed up 2 cents at $3.77-1/4 per bushel. The contract was down 3.1% in the week, its steepest drop in nine weeks.
The USDA forecast 2019/20 US production at 13.661 billion bushels, down from 13.779 billion a month earlier. The outlook was based on an average yield of 167.0 bushels per acre (bpa), down from 168.4 previously.