By Kirk Maltais


--Soybeans for March delivery fell 1.2%, to $13.01 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday, with new rainfall arriving in dry Brazilian growing areas expected to ease stress on those crops.

--Wheat for March delivery rose 0.5%, to $6.13 a bushel.

--Corn for March delivery rose 0.6%, to $4.72 3/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Wash Out: Brazilian crop-growing areas are expected to receive some much-needed rain, which became the main pressure point of Thursday's session. "Welcomed showers impact the driest areas of northern Brazil through the weekend," said AgResource in a note. "This will be followed by the return of abnormal warmth and below-normal precipitation in the 6-10 day period."

Thin Trade: A low-volume day ahead of the Christmas holiday helped exacerbate technical trends. CBOT corn closed at $4.72 a bushel, near the lowest levels of the year and the lowest levels since late 2020. Fund traders are adding short positions in corn ahead of the end of the year, said AgriTel in a note, this even as they still hold a sizable net short position in corn, creating the potential for a sharp short-covering-driven rebound.


INSIGHT


New Year, Same Problems: After gradually declining throughout the harvest months, CBOT wheat saw a revival in December--one that's expected to persist into the new year, according to Commerzbank in a note. The firm said that because of issues faced by crops in countries like Argentina and Australia, world supply is expected to be thinner, and issues with China's own wheat crops makes the biggest grain exporter in the world even hungrier for wheat. "All in all, we see wheat prices well supported in the coming months," says the firm, adding that the expected support level is around $6.20 a bushel.

Surge in Sales: Export sales for U.S. soybeans nearly doubled from the previous week, according to USDA data, giving hope that U.S. products can compete for export business on the world stage. In its latest weekly export sales report, the USDA said that U.S. soybean export sales for the week ended Dec. 14 totaled 1.99 million metric tons for delivery in the 2023/24 marketing year. That is up 84% from last week's report, according to the agency. Unknown destinations were the leading buyers of soybeans for the week, followed by China, Spain, Indonesia, and the Netherlands.


AHEAD


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

--The USDA will release its monthly Cold Storage report at 3 p.m. ET Friday.

--The USDA will release its quarterly Hogs and Pigs report at 3 p.m. ET Friday.

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


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-21-23 1529ET