By Kirk Maltais


--Soybeans for January delivery rose 1% to $14.86 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday, responding to a better-than-expected export sales report and indications of an easing Covid-19 policy in China ahead of Friday's WASDE report.

--Corn for March delivery rose 0.2% to $6.42 1/4 a bushel.

--Wheat for March delivery fell 0.2% to $7.47 3/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Soy Surge: Weekly export sales of U.S. soybeans reported by the USDA surged from last week's figures, driven largely by sales to China. For the week ended Dec. 1, export sales of soybeans totaled 1.72 million metric tons for the 2022-23 marketing year. The leading buyer for the week was China, with the country purchasing 839,600 tons for the week. The total well exceeds projections by traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, who forecast sales to land anywhere between 600,000 tons and 1.1 million tons. It also beats last week's sales, which totaled 693,800 tons across the 2022-23 and 2023-24 marketing years.

Opposite Sides of the Spectrum: Wheat and soybeans took an opposite approach in trading Thursday. For wheat, the drop came as traders lost the morning's general momentum that stemmed from a leak in the Keystone Pipeline--this while an easing of Covid-19 restrictions in China helped spur enthusiasm for soybeans. "It didn't take long for yesterday's wheat short-cover rally to run out of gas, while soybeans continue to push higher on near-term Chinese demand," said Arlan Suderman of StoneX in a note.

Bursting at the Seams: The Keystone Pipeline has been shut down after a leak was detected, with leaked oil being found in areas of Nebraska. News of the shutdown has propelled crude oil futures over 3% higher this morning, which in turn rubbed off on grain futures in pre-market trading, as corn and soybeans are used as ingredients in renewable fuels. "This is lending support to agriculture markets," said Terry Reilly of Futures International in a note this morning.


INSIGHTS


Patiently Waiting: Trading was subdued ahead of Friday's WASDE report from the USDA. While strength in outside markets like energy have helped support grains, volumes have been generally light--although traders backed off of early-day buying as they hedged their bets for a report that's not expected to be overly positive for prices.

Coming to an End: Odds that La Niña is coming to an end are growing, with the NOAA now forecasting global climate to become neutral between El Niño and La Niña by next spring. The NOAA's Climate Prediction Center now forecasts La Niña to continue this month, with equal chances of La Niña and ENSO-neutral during January-March 2023. In February-April 2023, there is now a 71% chance of ENSO-neutral. This makes it more likely that growing areas around the globe will receive more seasonably normal conditions.


AHEAD:


--The USDA will release its monthly world supply and demand report at noon 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.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-08-22 1459ET