CHICAGO, April 1 (Reuters) - Trading volumes in Chicago Board of Trade corn futures surged to a record high on Thursday, CME Group data showed, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture's larger-than-expected U.S. sowings projection sent prices tumbling.
Preliminary data released late Thursday showed 930,250 trades in corn, the world's biggest-volume agriculture futures contract, easily topping the previous record of 845,770 contracts on June 30, 2015, a day that also saw a USDA release.
USDA, in its annual planting intentions report, estimated 93.601 million acres of corn would be sown in the United States, the third largest total since World War II and above analyst estimates that ranged from 89 to 91 million acres.
Corn prices fell more than 4 percent, with most contracts reaching lifetime lows. Corn on a continuous chart fell to a low of $3.47-1/2 per bushel, nearly 20 cents below its session high, before trimming losses. CBOT May early on Friday was down 2-1/4 cents at $3.49-1/4.
CME Group preliminary data showed 58,469 new contracts added during the session; if realized that would be the largest one-day spike in new contracts in more than a decade.
The exchange will release final data for Thursday's session later on Friday.
(Reporting by Michael Hirtzer; Editing by Bernadette Baum)