By Paulo Trevisani


--Soybeans for July delivery rose 1.7% to $13.86 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Friday, as traders focused on weather forecasts after a WASDE report with no surprises.

--Corn for July delivery fell 1%, to $6.04 1/4 a bushel.

--Wheat for July delivery rose 0.6%, to $6.30 1/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Data As Expected: The USDA's June report "was pretty uneventful with the exception of the higher global wheat stocks forecast," RCM's Doug Bergman said in a note. "The USDA punted on the new crop US corn/bean balance sheets as weather will drive supply ideas moving forward." Bergman said Argentine soybean production still looks optimistic.

Back to the Weather: The grains trade was watching for updates in June's crop projections report, while also keeping an eye on weather forecasts for a potential break on an already long drought. Meanwhile, flash exports of soybeans and rumors that the EU was importing U.S. beans to crush and sell back to the Americans as oil or biodiesel supported prices, Futures International's Terry Reilly said in a note.

Beans Exports: The USDA said Friday private exporters reported sales of 197,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery during the current marketing year to unknown destinations. On Thursday, the agency reported a 68% weekly increase on net export sales of old crop soybeans, to 207,200 tons, which was up from the prior four-week average, the USDA said. Exports increased primarily for Japan, Germany, Egypt, South Korea and Canada in the weekly report.

Latin America Tweaks: While analysts were expecting big cuts, the USDA's new projections for South American corn and soybeans crops weren't as large as anticipated. The agency left unchanged its estimate for Argentina's and Brazil's production in the 2023-2024 marketing year. The USDA did reduce Argentina's 2022-2023 corn production estimate to 35 million tons from 37 million tons and soybeans estimate to 25 million tons from 27 million tons. The change, however, was offset by increases in Brazil's 2022-2023 forecast, which was raised to 132 million tons from 130 million tons for corn and to 156 million tons from 155 million tons for beans.


INSIGHT


'Premature' Estimates: The USDA's expectations of higher 2023-24 wheat production in the EU, Russia and Ukraine could be "as premature given stagnant dryness across some 50% of Europe's wheat belt and as dryness lingers in Russian spring wheat areas," AgResource analysts said in a note. The USDA expects the EU to produce 140.5 million metric tons of new wheat, its highest forecast for the region since Brexit.


AHEAD


--The USDA will release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

--The USDA will release its weekly crop progress report at 4 p.m. ET Monday.

--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

--The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.


Write to Paulo Trevisani at paulo.trevisani@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-09-23 1557ET