By Kirk Maltais


--Corn for July delivery fell 2.3% to $4.39 3/4 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday, as the forecast for hot temperatures hitting many growing areas also comes with rain - supporting young crops as they pass through their early development stages.

--Wheat for July delivery fell 2% to $5.70 1/2 a bushel.

--Soybeans for July delivery fell 1.6% to $11.55 1/2 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Taking the Good and the Bad: Following the midweek break in observance of Juneteenth, CBOT grains fell - as traders temper their views on weather premium, with forecasts in the coming weeks staying hot but accompanied by rainfall, according to Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage in a note. Good crop conditions and a strong spring planting season are also limiting worries about the heatwave.

Awaiting the Next Bellwether: Many traders today decided to take a risk-off approach until the USDA releases its annual acreage report on June 28. "With the acreage report looming, no one is going to be too aggressive," Sterling Smith of AgriSompo said. In its last WASDE report, the USDA says that yields for U.S. corn and soybeans are expected to be at record highs. If the acreage report bears that out, then it means that weather will have to be hot and dry for an extended period to push traders to bid grain futures higher.


INSIGHT


Coming in Stronger: Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal are forecasting U.S. soybean export sales to be up from last week. Analysts see sales landing between 400,000 metric tons and 900,000 tons. If they're in this range, they'll be up from the 380,100 tons reported last week. Soybean sales are seen as low this year, although a wave of flash sales to China may prop-up the numbers in this week's report.

Beating the Forecast: Daily U.S. ethanol production reported Thursday by the EIA was higher than expected by analysts surveyed by Dow Jones. The EIA said that daily average ethanol production rose to 1.057 million barrels a day for the week ended June 14, which is up 34,000 barrels a day from the previous week. Surveyed analysts forecasted production to land between 1 million and 1.023 million barrels a day. U.S. ethanol inventories also rose for the week, climbing to 23.62 million barrels--up from 23.22 million barrels reported last week. Analysts had expected stocks to decline to as low as 22.7 million barrels. The summer is typically a strong time for ethanol demand, as well as demand for general fuel amid increased driving on U.S. highways.


AHEAD


--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday.

--The USDA will release its monthly Cattle on Feed report at 3 p.m. ET Friday.

--The USDA will release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

--The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Monday.

--The USDA will release its weekly Crop Progress report at 4 p.m. ET Monday.


Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-20-24 1514ET