Augmented demand from China helped push up the price of corn futures on Thursday, marking the third-straight day of gains for the agricultural commodity, according to Bloomberg.
The Asian nation is the globe's top producer of hogs and the gains in corn orders indicate the grain will serve as feed for the livestock. China purchased 900,000 metric tons of corn from the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The price of corn futures dropped 7.6 percent thus far in 2012 prior to Wednesday and the Agriculture Department said farmers were preparing a record crop for the harvest.
"The China corn-sale announcement is positive because it shows they are willing to buy on weakness," grain broker Jim Riley with the Linn Group in Chicago told Bloomberg. "With a big crop on the horizon, we will need to see more buying from China."
At 2:08 p.m. on Wednesday, corn futures advanced 3.39 percent, a 0.2025 lift to $6.175 per bushel.
Reuters reports the corn sale to China marks the biggest since the same nation purchased 1.56 million tons of corn in late April.
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