Large speculators slashed their bullish bets on corn during the week ended on Tuesday as sluggish export demand for US supplies drove prices to a three-week low, regulatory data released on Friday showed. Non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, cut their net long position in Chicago Board of Trade corn by nearly 25 percent in the week ended December 11, to 152,852 contracts.

According to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly Commitments of Traders report The drop of 50,687 lots - including the sale of 35,417 long positions and the addition of 15,270 shorts - was the biggest reduction to the net long in corn on an outright basis since June 2011.

CBOT March corn fell 3.2 percent during the period, hitting a 3-1/2-week low on poor export demand for US corn and corresponding trade expectations for rising US inventories. In wheat, large speculators expanded their net short position during the week to 42,922 contracts, the largest since June. Funds sold 8,079 long positions and added 11,639 shorts to their wheat holdings.

Copyright Reuters, 2012