By Kirk Maltais

 

--Wheat for May delivery was down 0.4% at $4.48 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday, due to estimates of a larger Russian wheat crop.

--May soybean contracts rose 0.2% at $8.80 1/2 a bushel.

--Corn contracts for May delivery rose 0.1% at $3.58 1/2 a bushel.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

Muted Trade: The approach of the Good Friday holiday meant few traders were willing to risk getting stuck with big positions while the market is closed. "Much of what we are seeing is simple pre-weekend positioning," said Karl Setzer of Citizens Elevator. The market closes at its regular time Thursday and will reopen Sunday evening.

Russian Wheat: New estimates point to a Russian wheat crop that will be larger than initially expected, growing by one million metric tons to 79.5 million tons. The U.S. is already struggling to compete in Europe; increased Russian production could make it even harder for U.S. sellers. For the futures market, however, wheat movement will likely be minimal next week, according to Charlie Sernatinger of EDF Man Capital. "Europe will be largely closed Monday, and then next weekend we have orthodox Easter coming up, which will slam the door shut on trading out of the Black Sea," Mr. Sernatinger said. "Which means trading will be thin again next week."

 

INSIGHT

 

Corn Sales Beat Forecasts: Export sales of U.S. corn exceeded analysts' expectations, totaling 966,000 metric tons for both the 2018/19 and 2019/20 marketing years and up 76% from the previous week. The high end of analysts' predictions placed the figure at 900,000 tons. Such sales could chip away at the 2018/19 ending stocks for corn, which the USDA predicts will reach 2.04 billion bushels.

WTO Decides on China Ag Tariffs: A decision by the World Trade Organization that China's tariff-rate quotas on American wheat, corn and rice violates WTO rules is being praised by U.S. officials as a victory for U.S. farmers, eventually allowing them better access to the Chinese market. The decision is in response to an August 2017 request by the U.S. for a committee to consider this issue. "Making sure our trading partners play by the rules is vital to providing our farmers the opportunity to export high-quality, American-grown products to the world," said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. "We will use every tool available to gain meaningful market access opportunities for U.S. grains and other agricultural products."

 

AHEAD

 

-Trading on the CME will be closed on Friday in observance of the Good Friday holiday.

-The USDA releases its weekly grain export inspections data at 11 a.m. EDT on Monday.

-The USDA provides its weekly update on U.S. crop progress at 4 p.m. EDT on Monday.

 

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 18, 2019 16:14 ET (20:14 GMT)

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