Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures plunged more than 4% on Friday after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated US plantings well above trade estimates, sending prices down by the most in nearly three years, traders said. CBOT September corn ended 21 cents lower at $4.24-3/4 per bushel. The 4.7% drop was the steepest for a most active contract since July 5, 2016.
New-crop December futures shed 19-1/2 cents to $4.31-1/2 a bushel. The contract was down 4.9% in the week for a second straight weekly drop. It was also down for the month but up more than 10% for the quarter following strong gains in May.
In its annual acreage report on Friday, the USDA said US farmers seeded 91.7 million acres of corn, down from 92.8 million acres last year but well above the average trade estimate for 86.6 million acres.
The USDA said it would resurvey farmers in 14 states next month on planted acres and would release updated figures on August 12 if the collected data warrants an update.
Traders are monitoring news from the G20 summit in Japan. US President Donald Trump on Friday said he hoped for productive talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit, but said he had not made any promises about a reprieve from escalating tariffs.