Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade fell on Thursday, pressured by the stronger dollar and prospects for huge US corn acreage this spring, traders said.
CBOT corn futures through July 2005 were down 5 to 6-3/4 cents per bushel by 11:00 am CDT (1600 GMT). July corn was down 6 at $3.13-3/4 and new-crop December was down 7 at $3.08-1/4.
Cargill Investor Services, FC Stone, ADM Investor Services and Refco each sold 200 to 300 December, traders said.
The US dollar rallied on government jobless data released on Thursday. A rising dollar increases the price of US commodities to importers and is bearish for corn futures.
Traders expect the record fast planting pace of this year's corn crop will encourage farmers to seed more corn than the government originally projected in March. The increase in corn is expected to mean fewer soyabeans. CBOT oat futures were steady to 4-1/2 cents per bushel lower, following the other CBOT markets. July was down 3-3/4 at $1.75 per bushel.