Corn futures fell in Chicago on a market disappointed by U.S. exports

By Tom Polanzek

CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. corn futures fell on Thursday on sluggish export demand from the country, analysts said, while wheat futures also fell.

Traders were disappointed after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that US corn exports sold 264,000 tonnes in the week ending October at 1.075 million tonnes.

“Corn export sales remain anemic,” said Dan Roos, president of Iowa-based American Commodities Brokerage. “This market is about demand.”

The US faces competition from South America in selling exports to global buyers such as China. Much-needed rain has improved conditions for the 2022/23 corn and wheat crops in drought-stricken Argentina, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said.

The most active corn contract on the Chicago Stock Exchange (CBOT) was down 2.75 cents at $6.8225 a bushel.

Wheat was down 2 cents at $8.3850 a bushel. Meanwhile, soybeans rose 0.50 cents to end at $13.9350, the most active contract hitting its highest price in nearly two weeks.

(Reporting by Tom Polanzek in Chicago, Gus Trompis in Paris and Naveen Tughral in Singapore)