Chicago Board of Trade corn futures inched higher on Thursday on technical buying a day after the December contract hit a two-month low, supported by signs of improving demand for US supplies.
CBOT December corn settled up 1-3/4 cents at $3.68-1/2 per bushel but stayed inside of Wednesday's trading range.
Fresh export demand lent support. The US Department of Agriculture reported export sales of US 2019/20 corn in the week to Nov. 14 at 788,000 tonnes, in line with trade expectations and up 49% from the prior four-week average.
Through its daily reporting system, the USDA said private exporters sold 106,000 tonnes of US corn to unknown destinations, the third such US corn sale announced this week.
Traders still digesting data released Wednesday showing that US production of corn-based ethanol has increased in each of the last eight weeks.
Rallies capped by improving South American crop weather.