CBOT corn ends mostly lower on strong US crop prospects

CHICAGO, June 30 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn futures closed mostly lower on Monday as generally favorable U.S. crop conditions signaled strong production prospects that overshadowed a slightly smaller-than-expected U.S. plantings figure, traders said.

• CBOT September corn CU25 settled down 2-1/4 cents at $4.09-1/4 per bushel.

• New-crop CBOT December corn CZ25 ended down 1-1/2 cents at $4.25-1/2.

• The thinly traded July corn contract CN25, which expires on July 14, settled up 3 cents at $4.20-1/2 a bushel, buoyed after the CBOT reported no deliveries against the contract on first notice day. COR/DEL

• Ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly crop progress report due later on Monday, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the government to rate 70% of the U.S. corn crop in good to excellent condition, unchanged from last week and the best for this time of the year since 2020.

• Warm temperatures and scattered showers over the past week were seen as favoring crop growth.

• Separately on Monday, the USDA reported U.S. corn plantings for 2025 at 95.2 million acres, down from its March 31 forecast of 95.3 million acres but up 5% from 2024. The latest figure fell below an average of analyst estimates for 95.35 million acres.

• The USDA reported U.S. June 1 corn stockpiles at 4.644 billion bushels, near an average of trade expectations and down 7% from a year earlier.

• The USDA reported export inspections of U.S. corn in the latest week at 1,369,961 metric tons, in line with trade estimates for 1,250,000 to 1,665,000 tons. USDA/I

• Ample South American corn supplies continue to weigh on the market. Agribusiness consultancy AgRural raised its forecast of Brazil's total 2024/25 corn production to 130.6 million metric tons, up from its previous forecast of 128.5 million tons released on June 2.