Chicago corn futures climb amid technical buying, short-covering

CHICAGO, July 31 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn futures turned higher on Thursday, supported by technical buying and short-covering at month's end, traders said.

• CBOT September corn CU25 closed 2-1/4 cents higher at $3.94 per bushel, while the most-active December contract CZ25 finished 1-1/2 cents higher at $4.13-3/4 a bushel.

• U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had agreed with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to extend an existing trade deal with Mexico for 90 days and continue talks over that period with the goal of signing a new deal.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported weekly net U.S. corn export sales of 340,924 metric tons for the 2024-2025 marketing year, and 1,891,912 tons for the new-crop 2025-2026 marketing year. Old-crop sales were on the low-end of trade estimates, while new-crop sales exceeded analysts' forecasts.

• The combined sales of 2,232,836 metric tons were the largest since the week ended October 31, 2024, USDA data showed.

• USDA reported private sales of 100,000 metric tons of U.S. corn to Colombia for shipment in the 2025/26 marketing year. The agency also reported sales of 140,000 tons of U.S. corn to South Korea and 136,000 tons to undisclosed destinations for 2025/26 shipment.

• Demand from Asia has been brisk as corn prices have slumped. Taiwan's MFIG purchasing group bought about 65,000 metric tons of animal feed corn expected to be sourced from the United States in an international tender on Wednesday, European traders said.

• Milder temperatures and periodic showers into early August are expected to benefit Midwest corn, according to Commodity Weather Group.

• Corn harvesting has started in the far southern fringes of the crop belt, including Texas and Louisiana, weekly U.S. data showed.