U.S. Grain Futures Reopen After Holiday as Pre-Christmas Gains Set the Tone

Overview

• CBOT corn, soybeans, and wheat resume trading with a hard open at 8:30 am CST following the Christmas break.
• Wednesday’s short session closed with corn up 3–4 cents, soybeans up 11–14 cents, and Chicago wheat up 4–6 cents.
• Preliminary open interest rose by 802 contracts in corn, fell by 4,814 in soybeans, and decreased by 3,571 in wheat, with the soybean drop described as suggesting short covering.
• USDA export commitments as of December 11 show corn at 47.579 MMT, up 31% year over year and 59% of USDA’s projection, while wheat stands at 19.855 MMT, up 22% and 81% of the projection.
• Soybean export commitments total 25.778 MMT, down 33% year over year and 58% of USDA’s projection, as Argentina reports corn 77.7% planted with 87% good/excellent and soybeans 75.5% planted with 67% good/excellent.