Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were lower early on Thursday and new contract lows were set after the release of bearish crop production numbers from the US Department of Agriculture, traders said.

At 9:45 am CST (1545 GMT), CBOT corn was 3/4 to 1-1/2 cents per bushel lower, with December down 1 at $1.94-1/4 per bushel.

The new contract low for December is $1.93-3/4, below the previous low of $1.94-1/4. Pit sources said ABN Amro sold 400 December, Calyon Financial sold 1,500 December and Citigroup bought 2,000 December.

USDA's November crop report released early Thursday showed the 2005 US corn crop at 11.032 billion bushels, above the government's October forecast for 10.857 billion.

Copyright Reuters, 2005