The Chicago Board of Trade corn market was on a roller coaster ride on Tuesday, falling on farmer hedge pressure after rallying to six-year highs on a larger-than-expected cut in US corn ending stocks, traders said.
CBOT corn futures were steady to down 1-1/2 cents per bushel by 10:25 am CST (1625 GMT). March corn was down 1/4 cent at $2.84, hitting a low of $2.81-1/2 after climbing to $2.86-3/4 - the highest price for the spot contract since November 1997.
ADM Investor Services was among the noted sellers on farmer hedge pressure, floor traders said. Commodity funds were early buyers, including Cargill Investor Services.
World ending stocks for corn were also slightly lower, at 67.23 million tonnes compared with 67.49 million in January, a reflection of the US drop. The size of the South Africa corn crop was also shaved by 500,000 tonnes to 8.0 million, but Brazil's corn crop was raised 2.0 million tonnes to 42.0 million.
South Korea will tender Wednesday for 105,000 tonnes of optional-origin corn. But news that China might resume corn exports as soon as March was weighing on corn futures.
The CBOT oat market remained range-bound, steady to down 1-1/2 cent a bushel. March oats was down 1-1/2 cent at $1.49-3/4.