Corn futures rise after big US grain sale to Mexico
Adds closing prices in paragraphs 8-9
By Tom Polansek
CHICAGO, Oct 16 (Reuters) -Chicago Board of Trade corn futures rose on Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture said exporters reported the biggest daily export sale of the grain in more than a year.
The gains were a turnaround from a decline on Tuesday to a nearly one-month low, as U.S. farmers speed along with their autumn harvests. Wheat futures recovered from a three-week low.
The USDA, in a daily reporting system, said exporters sold 1.6 million metric tons of U.S. corn to Mexico, including about 1 million metric tons for delivery by Aug. 31, 2025.
The announcement triggered short covering by speculators and signalled to money managers that low crop prices can attract demand, brokerage StoneX said.
Processors in Mexico step up to buy large quantities of U.S. corn to take advantage of weak prices at harvest time, exporters said. The last biggest daily export sale of U.S. corn reported by USDA was 1.7 million metric tons sold to Mexico on Sept. 25, 2023.
USDA on Wednesday also reported exporters sold 332,000 metric tons of U.S. corn to unknown buyers for delivery by Aug. 31.
"It's cheaper corn than we've had for a while," said Matt Wiegand, commodity broker for FuturesOne. "You've got good value from an end user's perspective."
Most-active corn futures Cv1 finished up 3-1/2 cents at $4.04-3/4 a bushel.
CBOT wheat Wv1 closed 5-1/2 cents higher at $5.85 a bushel, while soybeans Sv1 fell 11 cents to $9.80 a bushel and touched their lowest price since Aug. 29.
Forecasts for beneficial rains in dry crop-growing areas of South America loomed over the corn and soy markets, analysts said. Still, Antarctic polar winds blowing over Argentina could further dry out grain fields, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said.
In the U.S., dry weather has accelerated harvesting. The corn harvest was 47% complete by Sunday, above the five-year average of 39%, and the soybean harvest was 67% finished, above its average of 51%, according to USDA.
Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra; Editing by Diane Craft and Matthew Lewis
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