By Kirk Maltais


- Wheat for March delivery rose 1.2% to $5.47 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Friday, with futures getting a boost as major export purchasers like Egypt and Algeria have made large buys in recent days.

-Corn for March delivery unchanged at $4.53 3/4 a bushel.

-Soybeans for March delivery fell 0.7% to $9.90 1/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Major Players: Wheat futures were driven largely by reports of new purchases by the typical major export buyers. "Recent large purchases by Egypt, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia have lifted world wheat valuations," said AgResource in a note. All three of these countries reported direct purchases of wheat, mostly from Russia, said the firm. The appetite for wheat is supporting futures today, but longer-term AgResource projects lower export sales demand as an issue limiting further rallying in wheat.

Global Shift: Soybean futures tumbled after the USDA reported soybean export sales that missed analyst forecasts at 1.1 million tons across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 marketing years. A fall in export sales coincides with expectations that demand will fall further for U.S. soybeans in favor of those coming from Brazil. "Traders are watching for global export demand to shift to South America from the U.S. as Brazil, the world's biggest soybean supplier, benefits from favorable crop weather," Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing said in a note.


INSIGHT


Running Towards the Record: Average daily production of ethanol in the U.S. stayed over the 1.1 million barrels a day threshold to keep near the recently set record high average. The EIA said that average daily ethanol production through the week ended Dec. 20 was 1.107 million barrels a day. That's up 5,000 barrels a day from the previous week, bringing the average closer to the all-time record of 1.119 million barrels a day set late last month. Total inventories reported by the EIA were 23.07 million barrels, up 438,000 barrels from the previous week. That is the highest inventories have been since late September.

Legal Blows: Advocates for biofuels are unsettled regarding developments expected to shape them as an alternative to fossil fuels. Not only did any legislation making E15--gasoline blended with 15% ethanol--year round get scrapped from the spending bill signed by President Joe Biden last week, but the D.C. Court of Appeals vacated denials of waivers to some gasoline producers by the EPA, allowing those producers to blend less biofuels into their production. CBOT grain traders see these as negative, putting a damper on growth hopes for the U.S. biofuels market.


AHEAD


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

-The USDA will release its monthly Agricultural Prices report at 3 p.m. ET on Monday.

-The USDA and CBOT will close in observance of the New Year, re-opening on Thursday.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-27-24 1528ET