By Kirk Maltais

--Corn for December delivery fell 0.9% to $3.66 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Wednesday, as weather conditions globally seem to have improved, allowing supply competitive to U.S. exports to build.

--Soybeans for January delivery fell 0.7% to $9.05 a bushel.

--Wheat for March delivery rose 0.7% to $5.18 3/4 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Better Weather Blues: Managed money funds sold an estimated 4,600 corn contracts, the equivalent of 23 million bushels, on a favorable weather forecast in South America, according to AgResource. "Any real heat is absent or confined to just a few days," the firm said. The selloff in corn is likely to continue. "A fundamental spark is needed via either adverse South American weather or a U.S./China trade deal to produce meaningful short-covering," AgResource said.

The Art of the Deal: Soybean traders turned pessimistic again after a Reuters report, citing unnamed sources, said a partial U.S.-China trade deal might not materialize until next year. President Trump has been talking up the agreement, saying Tuesday that he was happy with the negotiations. On Wednesday he said China wants to make a deal. While the trade conflict drags on, China appears to be buying U.S. soybeans, although grains traders like to think the purchases would be larger without the deal drama.

INSIGHT

Bottom of the Barrel: U.S. ethanol inventories fell last week to the lowest level since September 2016, a new low for stockpiles, while production rose to 1.03 million barrels a day. The deep cut into inventories should have been bullish for U.S. corn futures, as traders are desperate for better indicators of corn consumption, but futures didn't finish higher.

Crystal-Ball Gazing: Trader estimates for grain export sales to be reported by the USDA on Thursday are in line with last week's predictions, according to data gathered by The Wall Street Journal. However, traders are leaving open the possibility of higher corn and soymeal sales, with forecasts topping out at 900,000 metric tons and 450,000 tons respectively. For corn, total sales hitting the high end of trader forecasts would be a bullish development, but not enough on its own to reverse the narrative of poor export demand for U.S. corn.

AHEAD

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

--The USDA will release its monthly Cattle on Feed report at 3 p.m. ET Friday.

--The USDA will release its monthly cold storage report at 3 p.m. ET Friday.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 20, 2019 16:13 ET (21:13 GMT)

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