Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade soared 4 percent early on Wednesday as wet weather in the US Midwest continued to slow corn plantings leading to concerns about declines in 2007 production, traders said.
At 10:13 am CDT (1513 GMT), CBOT corn was unchanged to up 16 cents per bushel, with May up 16 at $3.76-1/2 per bushel. New-crop December was up 9-1/4 at $3.81-3/4.
Man Financial bought 2,000 July, pit sources said, and there was aggressive buying on the e-cbot electronic trading platform. Traders said the key driver of corn futures on Wednesday was the soggy weather in key corn areas of the US Midwest.
The rains were keeping farmers from planting corn at a time of surging demand for the grain to feed the growing ethanol industry. Oat futures were up 1/4 to 5-1/2 cents per bushel, with May up 5-1/2 at $2.58 per bushel.