TOP STORIES: 



  Wheat Rebounds on Chinese Interest 


  Wheat for September delivery rose 0.9% to $5.22 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Wednesday, on the back of trader enthusiasm that increased Chinese buying of U.S. wheat exports is imminent. Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.1% to $9.14 a bushel. Corn for December delivery fell 0.6% to $3.39 3/4 a bushel. 


  Wheat futures saw a rebound Wednesday after falling yesterday, with traders motivated by USDA of a new soybean sale to China this morning with hopes that their interest in U.S. wheat will result in more flash sale announcements. "Contrary to cash rumors, FAS did not report that several cargoes of U.S. hard wheat was sold to China," said AgResource, adding that traders hope to see higher figures in tomorrow's weekly sales report. "It's possible that the sales were done individually through differing exporters," said the firm. 


  Big Export Sales of Soybeans Expected -- Market Talk 


  14:38 ET - US export sales of soybeans are expected to come in at close to 4 million metric tons, according to traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. The high end of estimates for soybeans is expected to total 3.9 million tons. This is largely driven by a streak of Chinese buying that occurred over the past two weeks, which totaled close to 2 million tons. Traders think that China will continue to be a big buyer of US soybeans going forward. "The Chinese bought three more cargos of US beans yesterday, and were back in poking around today, and there is talk that a couple of October Brazilian sales to China have been switched to the US over the past week," says Charlie Sernatinger of ED&F Man Capital. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais) 


  ADM Trims Wilmar Stake to Raise Cash -- Market Talk 


  0920 ET - US grain giant Archer Daniels Midland plans to sell about $500M worth of shares the US grain giant owns in Wilmar International, one of the world's largest producers of palm oil. ADM has long held a big stake in the Singapore-based agribusiness, estimating it at 24.8% of Wilmar's equity at the end of 2019, and in recent years ADM had been adding to the position, letting the US company benefit from Asia's expanding palm and soybean oil demand. ADM says it will still own at least 20% of Wilmar's equity interest after the sale, and proceeds may go toward ADM's working capital, investments in the business, possible acquisitions and share repurchases. ADM also plans to sell $300M in bonds. (jacob.bunge@wsj.com; @jacobbunge) 


  STORIES OF INTEREST: 


  Ethanol Inventories Resume Rise -- Market Talk 


  11:46 ET - Inventories of US ethanol appear to be resuming their rise as a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic hits roadblocks with new occurrences of the disease popping up. US ethanol inventories are up 520,000 barrels this week, totaling 20.3M barrels, according to EIA data. Meanwhile, production is also slightly up, by 8,000 barrels a day to 926,000 barrels a day. The data is less than calming for US corn producers. "Over the past three weeks weekly ethanol production average 930,000 barrels," Terry Reilly of Futures International says. "If this average remains unchanged over the next couple weeks, US corn for ethanol use may fall about 19 million bushels shy of USDA's projection of 4.85 billion bushels." (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais) 


  AB Foods Shares Lag Despite Improving Prospects -- Market Talk 


  0831 GMT - Shares in Associated British Foods rise 1.3% to 1998 pence after RBC Capital Markets upgrades the food-ingredient group and owner of Primark to outperform from sector-perform and its price target to 2300p from 2200p. "ABF has been left behind in the recent sector rally, yet the prospects for its two main businesses are improving," says analyst Richard Chamberlain. "We think Primark's low prices provide a barrier to entry versus online players and grocery is achieving double-digit profit growth. In addition, ABF has circa-5% of its market cap in cash and the implied valuation of Primark looks undemanding." (philip.waller@wsj.com) 


  THE MARKETS: 


  Hog Turns Higher as Cutouts Gain Again -- Market Talk 


  16:37 ET - After dropping 3.9% yesterday, lean-hog futures on the CME posted a rebound, rising 2.2% to 52.55 cents a pound. The movement in hog futures seems to be following the movement seen in pork cutout prices. The USDA's most recent assessment of pork cutouts shows an uptick to carcass values, rising 93 cents to $74.99 per hundredweight. However, this uptick isn't expected long-term, with hog supplies still high amid hobbled demand due to Covid-19. Live cattle futures finished trading 0.9% higher at $1.10825 a pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)