CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade corn futures fell on Monday on strong export sales, traders said.

CBOT most-active March corn settled 7-3/4 cents lower at $4.26 per bushel, after reaching a life-of-contract high at $4.39-1/2 per bushel, its highest on a continuous basis since July 18, 2019.

CBOT December, March and May corn futures all hit new contract highs overnight.

Private exporters reported the sale of 140,000 tonnes of corn to unknown destinations, the US Agriculture Department said on Monday morning. The USDA also said sales of another 204,000 tonnes of corn to unknown destinations was received in the reporting period.

Weekly export inspections for corn in the week ending Nov. 26, came in at 890,033 tonnes, up 6.8% from the week prior. For the marketing year, corn exports are up nearly 68% at 10.1 million tonnes, versus 6 million tonnes the same time last year.

Ukrainian grain exports fell by 14.1% from July to November, including 5.378 million tonnes of corn, versus 7.524 million tonnes in July-November of the year prior, according to its economy ministry.

China has approved imports of sorghum from Mexico as the country looks to add new origins of grain to feed its growing livestock sector, according to its customs administration.

The CBOT reported no deliveries against December corn futures on first notice day.