CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade corn futures rallied on Tuesday, rising 2.6% to notch their third straight day of gains on signs of increasing demand from China and concerns about crop deterioration in key growing areas of the US Midwest.

The most-active contract hit its highest since July 10 on a continuous basis.

The benchmark CBOT December corn futures contract rose above the high end of its 20-day Bollinger range.

Private exporters reported the sale of 408,000 tonnes of corn to China and 100,000 tonnes of corn to Japan for delivery in the 2020/21 marketing year, the US Agriculture Department said.

USDA on Monday afternoon said 64% of the US corn crop was rated good to excellent as of Aug. 23, down 5 percentage points from a week earlier.

The conditions report included a 9 percentage point drop in the top production state of Iowa and analysts said forecasts for more hot and dry weather this week raised concerns about further deterioration.