By Kirk Maltais


--Corn for December delivery fell 2% to $4.96 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Friday, with rainfall expected in some dry spots in the U.S. Corn Belt over the weekend.

--Soybeans for November delivery fell 1.5% to $13.19 1/4 a bushel.

--Wheat for September delivery fell 1% to $6.51 3/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Wet Weekend: U.S. crop-growing areas are expected to get ample rainfall over the weekend, which spurred grain traders to liquidate positions. "In terms of weather, with the exception of the northern part of the Corn Belt, rain is still expected in a large proportion of corn-growing areas, providing reassurance that the corn flowering period is just beginning," AgriTel said in a note. Showers and thunderstorms are expected in the Central and Southern Plains this weekend, as well as the southern portion of the Midwest, according to agricultural research firm DTN.

Out of Step: Grain exports reported by the USDA were higher than forecast by analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, but futures didn't get a boost. One reason for this is that overall grain export sales remain behind the pace previously projected by the USDA. "[Corn and soybeans] crops have work to do in terms of reaching the USDA's current estimates for old-crop exports; those could be adjusted lower in coming months, particularly useful and offsetting for the USDA if production estimates decline," Matt Zeller of StoneX said in a note.

Easing Prices: Food prices continued to slide in June, helping ease inflation pressures on consumers globally, while grain production is expected to climb further in 2023/24, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said. The FAO's food price index, which tracks global prices for a basket of staple foods, averaged 122.3 points in June down 1.4% from May's reading and down 23% from the peak reading in March 2022. Cereal prices averaged 126.6 points in June, down 2.1% from May, with the price of most grains falling during the month, the FAO said.


INSIGHT


Looking for a Slide: Grain production forecasts are expected to slip in next week's WASDE, according to analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, although they are still seen as remaining relatively high. The corn production estimate is expected to stay above 15 billion bushels, although down from 15.27 billion bushels forecast in June. The soybean production forecast is expected at 4.28 billion bushels, down from 4.51 billion bushels estimated last month. The outlook for wheat production is expected to rise to 1.68 billion bushels, up from 1.67 billion bushels in June's report.


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 world supply and demand estimates report at noon ET Wednesday.


--Yusuf Khan contributed to this article.

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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-07-23 1547ET