CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade corn futures added for a ninth consecutive day on Wednesday, as long-term drought in South American remains a concern despite recent rains, traders said.

The most-active corn futures contract ended 3-3/4 cents higher at $4.47-1/4 per bushel, after reaching $4.49-3/4 per bushel, its highest level since July 15, 2019. CBOT corn futures notched new life-of-contract highs in nearly all contract months. The US sold a marketing-year low 651,100 tonnes of 2020/2021 corn for export in the week ending December 17, down 66% from the previous week and 59% from the prior 4-week average. Trade estimates were 600,000-1,000,000 tonnes. Archer Daniels Midland said it was closing a corn processing plant in Nebraska due to high inventory through December 27.