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CBOT corn closes higher on a technical recovery

CHICAGO: Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on Tuesday on a general technical recovery at the CBOT following declines Monday.

Corn closed 1-3/4 to 3 cents higher with March up 2 at $2.22.

Many traders said Monday's slide was overdone and corn had fallen near levels that would draw in renewed commercial buying interest.

March futures closed at $2.20 on Monday, a drop of 3-1/2 cents from Friday but still up from $2.04-1/2 at the beginning of January. Support was seen around $2.17.

Cash merchants described U.S. farmer corn selling as generally light, while modest export business was noted overnight. Taiwan's Major League Feed Group bought 56,000 tonnes of U.S. corn, traders said in an earlier Reuters report.

The Korea Corn Processing Industry Association bought 52,500 tonnes of U.S. corn via tenders Tuesday. But it passed on tenders to buy another 52,500 tonnes, citing high prices, traders said.

The latest Commitments of Traders reports from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission were also viewed as a supportive factor, as they showed that speculative funds' net long position in corn futures and options was not as large as expected. -Reuters