US corn futures closed higher on Thursday, following a strong rally in soybeans and big exports of US corn. CBOT May expired at noon and closed up 2 cents per bushel at $4.21-1/2. July was up 1-3/4 at $4.28-1/4. Funds bought 2,500 lots. USDA pegs export sales of US corn in last week 1,182,800 tonnes (old-crop/new-crop), above estimates for 800,000 to 1,000,000 tonnes.
Wet weather this week in the eastern and southern US Midwest continues to slow corn seedings, but there are outlooks for better crop-sowing weather next week. US cash corn steady to weak late on Wednesday, with light farmer selling early in the day. CBOT May oats expired down 1-1/2 cents at $2.23-1/2. July closed down 1/2 cent at $2.28.