Grains were higher overnight although continue to struggle with relatively tight, range-bound trade. In outside markets, crude oil dipped below $43.
This morning USDA announced a 143,650 MT sale of corn to Mexico. It was the first day in 10 days when there were no soybean announcements. In other export news, the Taiwan Sugar Corp. purchased 20,000 tonnes of US-origin corn and 15,000 tonnes of US-origin soybeans in a tender which closed on Wednesday, European traders said. Australian wheat exports in August look set to hit an eight-month high as the lowest prices in a decade draw Southeast Asian millers to market, easing worries that the fourth-biggest seller would fail to meet official forecasts for the season. Exports will hit 1.4 million tonnes in August, port shipping data shows, a rise of nearly 30 percent from July and the largest business month since December 2015.
But, in the EU bad weather continues to plague key wheat areas there. France's exports of soft wheat outside the EU will fall to 4.8 million tonnes in 2016/17 from an estimated 12.5 million last season due to a weather-hit harvest in the bloc's biggest grain grower, agricultural group InVivo forecast on Wednesday. French soft wheat shipments within the European Union were expected to fall to 6.7 million tonnes from 7.5 million, which would give total exports of 11.5 million tonnes, down about 40 percent from last season and the lowest volume since 2001/02.
USDA’s crop report on Friday is expected to show higher production of corn and soybeans from USDA’s first formal farmer survey of the season on production. Traders look for a corn yield of 170.6, up from USDA’s July projection of 168, while soybean yields are expected at 47.5, up from 46.7 in July.
In crude oil,, the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday showed weekly U.S. inventories increased by 2.09 million barrels. But, the report also found a 3.9-million-barrel drop in gasoline stockpiles and a 1.5-million-barrel draw for distillates. Analysts are expecting that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will report a 1.0-million-barrel drop in U.S. crude oil inventories when it releases its official weekly data on Wednesday, but the API data lends greater uncertainty to these forecasts.
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