Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended higher on Thursday on bargain-buying and rising export demand following the market's recent declines, traders said. CBOT December corn settled up 2-1/4 cents at $3.50-1/2. Signs of larger US corn yields hung over the market. Private analytics firm Informa Economics raised its estimate of the US 2017 corn yield to 173.4 bushels per acre, from its previous monthly estimate of 170.5, three trade sources said.
Through its daily reporting system, the USDA said private exporters sold 1,356,360 tonnes of US corn to Mexico, including 845,820 tonnes for delivery in the 2017/18 marketing year that began September 1 and 510,540 for 2018/19. South Korean importers have also stepped up corn purchases. The USDA reported export sales of US corn in the latest week at 901,500 tonnes (old and new crop combined), in line with trade expectations for 800,000 to 1,200,000 tonnes.