CBOT corn ends lower as harvest of bumper US crop advances

CHICAGO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn futures closed lower on Monday, retreating from Friday's 2% rally as market players returned their focus to projections for a record-large U.S. harvest, traders said.

• CBOT December corn CZ25 settled down 6-3/4 cents at $4.23-1/4 per bushel but stayed inside of Friday's wide trading range.

• Traders are still digesting Friday's larger-than-expected U.S. corn production estimate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The government trimmed its yield forecast, as analysts expected, but raised its acreage figure and pegged the crop at a record-large 16.8 billion bushels.

• Seasonal pressure from the start of the U.S. harvest added pressure. Ahead of the USDA's weekly crop progress report due later on Monday, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the government to report the U.S. corn harvest as 9% complete, up from 4% last week.

• Analysts also expected the USDA to lower its weekly crop condition ratings for corn.

• Strong weekly export inspections data lent underlying support. The USDA reported export inspections of U.S. corn in the latest week at 1,511,691 metric tons, topping a range of trade expectations for 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 tons. USDA/I

• Brazil's first-season corn crop, representing about one-fifth of total corn output, is 17% planted in the country's key center-south region, down from 19% a year earlier, consultancy AgRural said.