Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were higher early on Thursday on persistent concerns about dry weather in the eastern US Midwest crop region, traders said. At 10:19 am CDT (1519 GMT), CBOT corn was up 2 to 5-1/4 cents per bushel, with July up 5 at $4.09-1/2 per bushel. New-crop December was up 3 at $4.18.
Man Financial bought 800 July and J.P. Morgan bought 1,000 July. Traders said updated weather forecasts indicate little if any relief in sight from the dry conditions, leading to the potential for harm to the US corn crop at a time record large corn production is needed.
DTN Meteorlogix weather early Thursday said dry weather is expected to continue for at least another five days in the central and eastern US Midwest crop region. Meanwhile, wet weather is starting to become a concern in portions of the far western crop area, Meteorlogix said. Oat futures were down 1-1/2 to up 2-1/2 cents per bushel, with July unchanged at $2.93 per bushel.