Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade turned lower early on Tuesday amid persistent pressure from the abundant supply of feedgrains globally, traders said. A decline in the soy complex also led to spillover selling pressure on corn futures, they said. At 10:03 am CST (1603 GMT), CBOT corn was unchanged to 3/4 cent per bushel lower, with March down 1/2 at $2.06-1/4 per bushel.
Rand Financial sold 300 March, Cargill Investor Services sold 400 March and FIMAT Futures bought 100 March, pit sources said.
Traders said some profit-taking and position-squaring was evident ahead of the release early Wednesday of the US Department of Agriculture's January crop production reports.
An average of analysts' estimates pegged 2004 US corn production at a record 11.751 billion bushels, well above the previous record of 10.114 billion produced in 2003. Technical support in the March contract was at $2.04-1/2 per bushel and resistance was at $2.10.