CBOT corn ends steady-firm on export demand; USDA monthly data awaited

CHICAGO, July 10 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended mostly steady to firmer on Thursday on strong weekly U.S. export data and short-covering ahead of monthly supply/demand reports due on Friday, but near-ideal crop weather bolstered crop prospects, capping rallies, traders said.

• CBOT September corn CU25 settled unchanged at $3.99-1/4 per bushel after matching a life-of-contract low set a day earlier at $3.96-1/4.

• New-crop CBOT December corn CZ25 ended up 1 cent at $4.16-1/2 a bushel.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export sales of U.S. old-crop corn in the week ended July 3 at 1,262,100 metric tons, above a range of trade expectations for 375,000 to 900,000 tons. Sales of new-crop corn for the week were 888,600 tons, also above expectations. EXP/CORN

• Separately, under its daily reporting rules, the USDA confirmed private sales of 110,000 metric tons of U.S. new-crop corn to undisclosed destinations.

• Ahead of Friday's monthly USDA supply/demand reports, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the government to lower its forecasts of U.S. corn inventories remaining at the end of the 2024/25 and 2025/26 marketing years.

• Brazilian government crop supply agency Conab raised its estimate of the country's total 2024/25 corn crop to 131.97 million metric tons, a new record that was up 2.9% from last month's estimate of 128.25 million tons.