Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade ended narrowly mixed on Tuesday amid bird flu concerns and plentiful stocks of corn, traders said.
Trading was choppy the entire trading session and pit sources said fund buying in corn on Tuesday totalled roughly 4,000 lots. But there was also some fund selling, with Citigroup a noted seller of 800 May.
Active two-sided trade also was noted in the corn options pit, the traders said.
CBOT corn closed 1/2 cent per bushel lower to 2 cents higher, with March up 1/2 at $2.28 per bushel. May was down 1/4 at $2.38-3/4.
The global spread of bird flu was leading to concerns about a reduction in feed consumption. The Foreign Agriculture Organisation said on Tuesday world poultry consumption this year may fall by some 3 million tonnes to 81.8 million tonnes as the bird flu scare hits sales in Europe.
Quiet exports overnight also weighed on prices, but the nearby March contract may have found some support because deliveries on that month were lighter than expected, they said.
Tuesday was first notice day for deliveries on the March contract, and the delivery total of 2,017 lots was below estimates for 3,000 to 4,000 lots. The ABN Amro house account issued 992 lots and the key stopper was an O'Connor and Co customer taking 1,175 lots.
Registrations with the CBOT late on Monday totalled 2,262 lots, down from 2,528 lots late on Friday. Cash basis bids for corn in the Midwest on Tuesday were firm as dealers attempted to generate some farmer selling.
Weather has moved to the background as a market factor, but recent showers should help the final kernel-filling stage of corn development in Argentina. Technical support in the May contract was at $2.36-1/2 per bushel and resistance was at $2.39-1/4. Oat futures closed unchanged to 6 cents per bushel lower, with March down 6 at $1.82. May was down 5-3/4 at $1.86-1/4.