Chicago Board of Trade corn futures hit a five-year high on Friday on firm cash markets and technical buying as forecasts for more showers in the eastern Midwest next week clouded the outlook for production, traders said.
CBOT July corn settled up 11 cents at $4.53 per bushel after reaching $4.57-1/4, a contract high and the highest for a most-active contract since June 2014.
Technical buying accelerated as the front seven corn futures contracts, including new-crop December, set contract highs.
Front-month July corn gained against back months on spreads, reflecting firm domestic cash markets.
The spot basis bid for corn at Decatur, Illinois, a processing hub, climbed to 14 cents above CBOT July futures this week, up from 7 cents at the start of the month, reflecting increased processor demand and a lack of farmer selling amid uncertainty about the size of the 2019 crop.
Corn basis bids have also firmed at rail hubs in Indiana and Ohio.
"These eastern Corn Belt end-users, they are deathly afraid that they are not going to have any corn to draw on. That's why the spread has just exploded," said Tom Fritz, a partner at EFG Group in Chicago.