Price of maize in Davanagere, too, was almost steady at 2,300 rupees per 100 kg because of firm demand and steady arrivals, said Shiva Kumar, a Davanagere-based trader.

“The new crop would start arriving in 15-20 days. After that, we expect prices to come down to 1,700-1,800 rupees per 100 kg,” said Kumar.

On NCDEX, the most-active October contract of maize ended at 2,125 rupees per 100 kg, down 0.7% from the previous close.

Corn futures closed session with the nearby contracts 6 to 8 3/4 cents higher. Dec hit the highest price since mid-August on Tuesday. Heavy snow is expected in the Dakotas and Minnesota late this week. Weekly Crop Progress data indicated that those three states showed much of the crop still exposed to losses, with 61% of the crop in MN not yet to black layer.

The Dakotas have 78% (ND) and 64% (SD) of corn yet to mature. Those states account for 17.67% of the 2019 planted acreage. Freezing temps are also seen dipping down to parts of Northern TX, but staying concentrated in the Plains and WCB.

Traders are expecting the USDA October yield projection on Thursday to drop 0.7 bpa to 167.5 bpa with a range of 159-169 bpa. With that yield reduction and an estimated 0.5 million acre cut to harvested acreage, analysts expect production to drop on average by 211 mbu to 13.88 bbu. Any freeze damage this week would be calculated in future reports.