CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade corn futures closed lower on Wednesday on hesitant buying ahead of a potential decision that may lower the use of corn to produce ethanol, traders said.
CBOT December corn last traded down 2-1/2 cents per bushel at $4.29-3/4 per bushel.
The EPA has proposed lowering the ethanol blending mandate for next year which could trim the amount of corn used for the fuel and add to the supply of corn that already is expected to climb from a 17-year low to a nine-year high.
US farmers will make rapid progress harvesting corn and soybeans the next couple of days followed by a brief slowdown Friday into the weekend due to light rainfall, an agricultural meteorologist said on Wednesday.
"It will be drier and a little warmer so they'll make pretty good progress with harvest on Wednesday and Thursday," said Drew Lerner, meteorologist for World Weather Inc. Good harvest weather is expected all of next week, he said.
Crop forecaster Lanworth on Wednesday raised its forecast for the 2013/14 US corn crop to 13.944 billion bushels from its previous outlook for 13.938 billion.
Cash basis bids for corn in the US Midwest on Wednesday were steady to higher as harvest neared completion and farmers sold only small amounts of their crop, dealers said.
Basis bids for corn shipped by barge to the US Gulf Coast were higher on Wednesday on good demand and firm nearby freight costs, traders said.
The RBOB gasoline to ethanol spread was at 0.9 cent per gallon, premium gasoline, up from 0.8 cent on Tuesday.
The December corn futures contract was below all key moving averages and the nine-day relative strength index was at 48.
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