US corn futures advanced to their highest price in more than a week on Thursday on strong export demand and concerns about US crop conditions, traders said. September corn futures rose 4 cents to $3.51-1/4 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade. Most active December corn futures also gained 4 cents, to $3.65, after touching their highest price since July 10.
The US Department of Agriculture said corn export sales totaled 1.416 million tonnes in the latest reporting week, topping forecasts that ranged from 500,000 to 1.1 million tonnes. "We remain the cheapest-price corn and soybeans in the world," Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for INTL FCStone, said of the United States. The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange cut its estimate for Argentina's 2017-18 corn crop to 31 million tonnes from 32 million due to a severe drought earlier this year. Argentina is a competitor to the United States on the global corn market. Recent hot, dry weather likely reduced US corn yields from earlier expectations, analysts said.