By Kirk Maltais
-- Wheat for March delivery rose 1% to $7.41 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Friday as traders took the opportunity to buy back into wheat futures following weakness seen Thursday and for most of the month.
-- Corn for March delivery fell 0.2% to $6.76 1/4 a bushel.
-- Soybeans for March delivery fell 0.5% to $15.06 1/2 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Smart Shopping: Wheat has been under pressure since the start of the year, in part because of a bumper crop in Russia, but that negative momentum appears to be stymied, at least temporarily.
"Wheat prices found support from bargain hunters buying just above key chart support following recent losses," said Arlan Suderman of StoneX in a note.
Turning on the Faucet: The arrival of rainfall in parched areas of Argentina is expected to aid lagging crops there, in turn pressuring CBOT futures.
"Not a whole lot of news to speak of, it is raining in spots in Argentina that have been very dry," said John Payne of Hedgepoint Global in a note.
Precipitation in both Argentina and Brazil has been closely followed by traders in an effort to determine how yields from crops there may look.
INSIGHTS
Surging Sales: Weekly export sales of U.S. corn reported by the USDA were higher than expected by grain traders. For the week ended Jan. 12, export sales of corn totaled 1.22 million metric tons across the 2022-23 and 2023-24 marketing years, up considerably from last week and exceeding the high end of forecasts from traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, who had forecast sales to land anywhere from 275,000 to 800,000 tons.
Japan was the lead buyer of U.S. corn for the week, followed by Mexico, South Korea and China.
Tightening the Belt: Farm supply companies have started the year on strong footing, but are expected to deal with increasing challenges as the year progresses, said CoBank in its 2023 outlook.
"For the second year in a row, ag retailers posted exceptionally strong revenue and profit growth, driven by sturdy grain market fundamentals," said Dan Kowalski of CoBank in the report. "While the farm supply sector begins 2023 on strong financial footing, rising wages, higher interest rates and continued high transportation costs are likely to tighten margins."
One such input, fertilizer, is actually showing relaxed pricing early this year, although remains much higher than normal.
AHEAD
-- The USDA is scheduled to release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. EST Monday.
-- The EIA is due to release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. EST Wednesday.
-- The USDA is scheduled to release its monthly Cold Storage report at 3 p.m. EST Wednesday.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-20-23 1546ET
