CBOT corn hits highest since June on positioning ahead of USDA data

CHICAGO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn futures rose on Thursday, with the benchmark December contract hitting a near five-month high ahead of long-awaited supply-demand reports due from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday, traders said.

• CBOT December corn CZ25 settled up 6-1/4 cents at $4.41-1/2 per bushel after reaching $4.42-3/4, its highest since June 23.

• Ahead of Friday's USDA supply/demand reports, the first since mid-September, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expect the government to lower its estimate of the U.S. corn yield to 184.0 bushels per acre, from 186.7 in its last report from mid-September.

• The range of estimates was unusually wide, reflecting the impact of a USDA data blackout during the 43-day U.S. government shutdown that ended this week.

• The USDA on Thursday began releasing export sales data, starting with its weekly report from the week ended September 25, and it planned to issue a list on Friday showing daily sales of U.S. agricultural products over the last six weeks.

• The USDA reported export sales of U.S. 2025/26 corn in the week ended September 25 at 1,394,800 metric tons, in line with trade expectations for 1,200,000 to 2,000,000 tons.

• Brazilian government supply agency Conab raised its estimate of the country's total 2025/26 corn production to 138.84 million metric tons, from 138.28 million in October. The latest estimate would represent a drop of 1.6% from the previous year.