Chicago Board of Trade corn futures edged higher on Friday on technical buying and as traders kept watch on unfavorable dryness in rival exporter Argentina, analysts said. CBOT March corn rose 1-1/4 cents to $3.56-1/2 a bushel. Private exporters struck deals to sell 125,000 tonnes of US corn to unknown destinations, the US Department of Agriculture said. The agency announced a sale of the same volume of corn to unknown destinations on Wednesday.
The USDA reported separately that export sales of US corn in the latest week were 1.531 million tonnes (old and new crop years combined), topping analysts' expectations. Traders are monitoring forecasts for more hot and dry weather in rival exporter Argentina, the world's No. 3 shipper of corn and soyabeans.
Dry weather is set to persist next week and most of the following week across the major growing areas in Argentina, according to US-based weather forecaster Radiant Solutions. US farmer sales of corn from storage bins slowed after gains earlier in the week sparked heavy selling, merchants said. Commodity funds were estimated to be net buyers of about 3,000 corn contracts at the CBOT.