Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade fell 4 percent on Thursday on bearish exports and financial concerns that included a drop overnight in Asian stock markets and an early plunge in the US stock market, traders said.
"Today is a moment of truth for the bulls. Export sales for corn weren't good, and the Asian stock market is a factor as well," said James Barnett, analyst for Man Global Research.
At 10:47 am CST (1647 GMT), corn was 6-1/2 to 15 cents per bushel lower, with March down 14-1/4 at $4.11 per bushel
Fund selling led the way down, with some market bulls unnerved by this week's sharp plunge in outside markets, such as Asian stocks, led by a steep slide on Tuesday in China's main stock market and another drop in that market on Thursday.
USDA said on Thursday the US corn crop would reach a record 12.2 billion bushels, assuming normal weather and yields. The government pegged US corn acreage at 87.0 million, up from its projection last month for 86.0 million.
US corn use for ethanol will remain strong, with 3.2 billion bushels targeted for the renewable fuel for the 2007/08 crop year, up from 2.15 billion bushels in the 2006/07 crop year. At midday, March was resting a fraction above the 20-day moving average.
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