Corn Futures Fall to 11-Month Low

Corn futures fell to the lowest point in almost a year as traders liquidated their positions ahead of the end of the month.

Analysts said buying interest waned as September-dated futures approached their first notice day for physical grain delivery, prompting farmers and traders to sell or close their positions.

The corn market, however, has been under pressure for several weeks, after a series of government and private forecasts have cast doubt on bets that this year's corn harvest would suffer after bad weather earlier this growing season. The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast a larger-than-expected harvest on Aug. 10, followed by a report last week from advisory firm Pro Farmer that said the same.

The USDA also said earlier this week that crop conditions were steady, at a time of year when they often deteriorate.

Corn contracts for September delivery fell 1.2% to $3.29 1/2 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade on Wednesday, the lowest close since late September 2016. Prices have fallen over 10% since the USDA's production forecast earlier this month.

Soybean futures also fell, despite export demand for U.S. oilseed. The USDA said on Wednesday that private exporters sold 131,000 metric tons of soybeans to China for delivery in 2017-18.

CBOT September soybean contracts slipped 0.8% to $9.23 a bushel, the fourth consecutive day of losses. CBOT September wheat futures, meanwhile, rose 0.2% to $4.03 1/2 a bushel.

Write to Benjamin Parkin at benjamin.parkin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 30, 2017 15:31 ET (19:31 GMT)