By Kirk Maltais


--Wheat for March delivery rose 1.2%, to $7.40 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Wednesday as traders prepared for the slate of USDA reports due Thursday.

--Soybeans for March delivery rose 0.5% to $14.93 a bushel.

--Corn for March delivery rose 0.2% to $6.56 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Last-Minute Positioning: After starting the trading session lower, grain traders say that fund money has buoyed CBOT grain futures higher ahead of tomorrow's busy day - which includes the USDA's release of its monthly WASDE report, its quarterly Stocks report, and weekly export sales report. "Tomorrow's big USDA data dump gives us good reason to look at the big picture," said Arlan Suderman of StoneX in a note. The December CPI report is also due out tomorrow, which will provide direction across markets.

Hinging on Argentina: The weather forecast in Argentina continues to be a significant factor supporting soybean futures. Weather there continues to be dry and hot, although temperatures are expected to moderate heading into the weekend, says commodities research firm DTN. Isolated rainfall is also seen as providing some relief to parched crops.


INSIGHT


Report of Distinction: The USDA's WASDE report is attracting a lot of attention from grain traders, but the agency's next stocks report is potentially the biggest market mover of the bunch. "This quarterly stocks report is the first post-harvest report, so it could have and frequently does generate some market movement," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage in a note. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal are forecasting drops to stockpiles for corn, soybeans, and wheat through December 1 versus the same quarter the previous year - with corn stocks expected to be down over 400 million bushels.

Course Correction: Daily production of ethanol in the U.S. turned higher after previously falling to a level last seen nearly two years ago. In its latest weekly report, the EIA said daily ethanol production averaged 943,000 barrels a day for the week ended Jan. 6. That's up from 844,000 barrels a day averaged in the previous week - which was the lowest production level for U.S. ethanol since February 2021. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones this week had forecast production to land anywhere between 833,000 barrels a day and 995,000 barrels a day.

The Bright Side: Export sales of U.S. corn for the week ended Jan. 5 may be less paltry than the 319,200 metric tons reported by the USDA in the previous week, according to grain traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. They are forecasting corn sales to land anywhere from 350,000 tons to 1 million tons. Meanwhile, soybeans are expected to be anywhere from 600,000 tons to 1.2 million tons versus 872,000 tons reported last week, and wheat is seen at 125,000 tons to 525,000 tons, versus 144,100 tons last week. Earlier this week, the USDA reported lower grain export inspections - particularly for corn, with total marketing-year inspections off roughly 30% from this time last year.


AHEAD


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

--The USDA will release its monthly world supply and demand report at noon ET Thursday.

--The USDA will release its quarterly stocks report at noon ET Thursday.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-11-23 1544ET