US corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were higher on Wednesday as commodity index funds were expected to rebalance their portfolios to reflect higher weightings toward corn, traders said.
The market was technically strong after notching a fresh 11-year high in Asian trade when the March contract hit $4.82 and gains in crude oil also lent support to the corn market.
At 10:18 am CST (1618 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade corn futures were up 2-3/4 cents per bushel to down 1, with March up 2-1/4 at $4.81 per bushel. The US Department of Agriculture confirmed early Wednesday that South Korea bought 110,000 tonnes of 2007/08 US corn and Egypt bought 120,000 tonnes within the past day. A separate South Korean group passed on a tender for 165,000 tonnes of corn due to high prices.