By Kirk Maltais


-- Corn for December delivery rose 1.5% to $6.27 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Thursday, with grain traders buying back ahead of the USDA's expected cuts to U.S. crop yields.

-- Soybeans for November delivery rose 1.5% to $14.48 1/2 a bushel.

-- Wheat for September delivery rose 1.4% to $8.10 3/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Sense of Optimism: Grain traders said Thursday that they are getting their positions in order ahead of Friday's WASDE report from the USDA, which is expected to show decreases to production and crop yields for U.S. corn and soybeans. Wednesday's CPI assessment from the Labor Department helped support the positive direction for grains.

"It's interesting that an 8.5% inflation number can be bullish but perhaps people think that the Fed has things under control," said Richard Buttenshaw of Marex in a note. "On the whole there is a lot more bullish optimism around in recent days as the long positioning has been cleaned up over the last two months."


Shipment Difficulties: Wheat futures led the CBOT higher for much of the day, with concerns from the Black Sea grain export corridor providing support.

"There were troubles overnight with shipments out of Ukraine due to rough seas and ships not able to proceed," Donna Hughes of StoneX told the WSJ.

Ukrainian officials on Thursday announced a new deal to sell 23,000 metric tons of grains to Ethiopia.

Meanwhile, a hotter forecast for growing areas in the Plains also supported wheat.


INSIGHTS


Short-Lived: Grain traders are wondering aloud if the WASDE report from the USDA will spark a rally in futures prices, which would be the first time in months that has happened.

However, how long momentum would last after a positive report remains to be seen since a lot of buying has already taken place this week, said AgResource in a note. "Following this week's rally, traders are expected to fade a bullish USDA report with the new-crop harvest dead ahead," said the firm.


Trending Up: Ahead of next week's report from the National Oilseed Processors Association, Futures International forecasts soybeans crushed to be at a rate of 170.6 million bushels in July, up from 164.7 million bushels in June. That would be well up from July of last year, when the rate was 155.1 million bushels.

Stocks of soyoil are also expected to extend declines seen in previous months, although a forecast total of 1.73 billion pounds is still higher than this time last year.


Low End: In its weekly report covering U.S. grain exports for the week ended Aug. 4, the USDA said that sales of corn across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 marketing years totaled 383,100 metric tons, while sales of soybeans across both marketing years totaled 410,500 tons. Wheat sales for 2022-23 totaled 359,200 tons. All three totals fell on the lower end of forecasts by grain traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this week.


AHEAD


-- The USDA is scheduled to release its monthly World Supply and Demand Report at noon EDT Friday.

-- The CFTC is due to release its weekly commitments of traders report at 3:30 p.m. EDT Friday.

-- The USDA is scheduled to release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. EDT Monday.

-- The USDA is due to release its weekly crop progress report at 4 p.m. EDT Monday.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

08-11-22 1546ET