By Anthony Harrup


--Soybeans for November delivery settled up 0.9% Thursday on the Chicago Board of Trade, at $9.88 3/4 a bushel, buoyed in late trade by short covering

--Wheat for December delivery rose 0.8%, to $5.89 1/2 a bushel

--Corn for December delivery rose 0.5%, to $4.06 3/4 a bushel


HIGHLIGHTS:


Late Recovery: Grains futures shook off early weakness, led by soybeans which started the day as the laggard. "Beans were down early on recent polls showing Trump gaining on Harris in the swing states, but early-day trader shorts covered late, and paid for their impunity," Charlie Sernatinger of Marex says in a note. "We have a few showers coming for the weekend for the western bean areas, and a system due in for the end of next week, but most farmers are reporting this week that their bean harvest is done, and that they are concentrating on the corn."

Mexican buyers: The USDA reported 197,180 metric tons of corn sales to Mexico for the 2024/25 marketing year, adding to the previous day's 1.62 million metric tons, which was the largest flash sale of corn in nearly a year to the U.S. southern neighbor. The sale is "a good sign for demand, but more large sales will need to be seen to significantly change the supply/demand outlook," said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives in a note. The USDA also reported 101,000 tons to unknown destinations for the 2024/25 marketing year.


INSIGHT


Ethanol stocks: After three straight weeks of declines, U.S. ethanol stocks edged up to 22.3 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 11 from 22.2 million barrels the week before, and were 1.2 million barrels above their year-earlier level, the Energy Information Administration reported. Ethanol production was little changed on the week, at 1.04 million barrels a day. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones had estimated stocks to land between 21.1 million and 22.9 million barrels, and production between 1.01 million and 1.05 million barrels a day.

Siberian slump: Grains consultancy SovEcon lowered its forecast for Russian wheat production to 81.5 million metric tons from 82.9 million tons, citing a decline in yields in Siberia. The estimate is down from 92.8 million tons last year and the lowest production level since 2021, SovEcon said. "Although the pace of wheat harvesting in the region is close to last year's, yields have significantly dropped, especially in Altai and Novosibirsk," SovEcon added.


AHEAD


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

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

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

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

--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.


Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-17-24 1604ET