By Kirk Maltais

--Soybeans for January delivery rose 0.6% to $8.89 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Friday after Chinese state media reported officials are looking to grant waivers to certain exports of U.S. soybeans and pork.

--Wheat for March delivery rose 0.1% to $5.24 1/2 a bushel.

--Corn for March delivery was unchanged at $3.76 3/4 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Hopeful Sign: China's State Council has started the process to exempt some U.S.-imported soybeans and pork from punitive tariffs, the state-run Xinhua News Agency says. U.S. traders saw the news as positive, signalling a trade deal is close. Without a deal, new tariffs between the two sides are expected to go into effect on Dec. 15.

Waiting on WASDE: Corn traded at light volumes, with traders reluctant to make substantial moves until Tuesday's WASDE. Analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal expect corn inventories are expected to drop by over 50 million bushels to just under 1.86 billion. However, even if corn inventories drop significantly more than that, futures may stay lightly traded next week. "You aren't going to get a lot of specs looking to buy this puppy on corn left in the fields over the winter," said Charlie Sernatinger of ED&F Man Capital. "After all, that is a 'known' fundamental, and as we all know, 'a known fundamental, is a useless fundamental.'"

INSIGHT

Oh Canada!: Canadian wheat production is expected to rise to 32.34 million metric tons in 2019, up 32.2 million tons in 2018. The uptick was one factor keeping a lid on U.S. wheat futures Friday, although the increase wasn't as much as previously expected, according to Dan Hueber of the Hueber Report.

Mexico Muscle: Mexico bought 245,872 metric tons of U.S. corn for the 2019/20 marketing year according to the USDA. Even though Mexico is the largest consumer of U.S. agriculture, Mexico's corn purchases come at an important time because traders have been concerned about the overall level of corn export demand.

AHEAD:

-The USDA releases weekly grain export inspections data at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

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

-The USDA releases its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate report at noon Tuesday.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 06, 2019 16:00 ET (21:00 GMT)

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