Chicago Board of Trade corn futures slumped on Thursday in a turnaround from a seven-week high reached earlier in the session, traders said. CBOT March wheat ended down 1-1/4 cents at $3.55-1/4 a bushel. Its session peak of $3.58 was the highest price for a most-active contract since December 4. The decline was a setback from short-covering that had pushed prices higher earlier in the session and on Wednesday, an analyst said.
Farmers in rival exporter Argentina are expected to sow 8.7 million hectares of corn, down from a previous estimate of 8.8 million hectares, as parts of the grains belt suffer from dry conditions, the Agriculture Ministry said on Thursday. Traders are monitoring forecasts for more hot and dry weather in Argentina, the world's No 3 exporter of corn and soyabeans and the No 1 exporter of soyameal livestock feed.