CBOT corn futures rise on concerns over dry US crop weather

CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures rose on Monday on concerns about dry summer weather threatening crops in certain key growing areas, after excessive wetness in the spring, analysts said.

* CBOT September corn settled up 2-1/2 cents at $4.17 per bushel.

* New-crop December settled up 2-1/2 cents at $4.27 per bushel.

* More rainfall is needed across Missouri, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, according to US weather firm Maxar, and drier weather is expected for the rest of the week.

* Some crops are more vulnerable to damage from unfavorable weather after heavy rains caused unprecedented planting delays this spring.

* "There's some areas of the eastern belt - Illinois, specifically - that have been pretty dry and don't really have much in the way of forecasted rain," said Brian Hoops, president of Midwest Market Solutions.

* The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a weekly crop progress report due out later on Monday is expected to rate 57% of US corn as good to excellent, flat from a week ago.

* The USDA separately said 645,367 tonnes of US corn were inspected for export last week, within analysts' expectations.

* Technical buying helped support gains after CBOT September corn hit its lowest since May 24 during overnight trading, traders said.