What follows are opening calls for U.S. grain and oilseed markets.
-- Corn futures are called to open 1 cent to 3 cents a bushel higher on the Chicago Board of Trade on speculation that rising demand for ethanol will reduce U.S. grain inventories and hot, dry weather will damage crops in Argentina, said Greg Grow, the director of agribusiness for Archer Financial Services Inc. in Chicago.
-- Soybean futures may open 1 cent to 3 cents higher in Chicago as adverse weather in Brazil and Argentina threatens to reduce output and increase demand for U.S. supplies, Grow said. Soybean-meal futures may open unchanged to $1 higher per 2,000 pounds, and soybean oil is expected to open up 0.05 cent to 0.1 cent a pound.
-- Wheat futures may open 1 cent to 3 cents a bushel higher on the CBOT, the Kansas City Board of Trade and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange after unusually heavy rain reduced the supply of milling-quality wheat in Australia and dry weather erodes prospects for winter grain in the U.S. and China, Grow said.
-- U.S. stocks rose, completing the Standard & Poor s 500 Index s recovery from the plunge that followed Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. s collapse in 2008, after Adobe Systems Inc. s forecast added to speculation that the fastest profit growth in 22 years makes equities a bargain.
-- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan said China has taken concrete action to help the European Union with its debt problems as he officiated the opening of a one-day forum in Beijing to discuss economic and trade relations.
-- China will import 600,000 metric tons of corn in the 2010- 2011 marketing year, according to the China National Grain & Oils Information Center, affirming last month s forecast.
-- China sold less rapeseed oil in reserve auctions than in a sale earlier this month as the government s price controls cut into profit margins, state-affiliated researcher Cnyouzhi.com said.
-- China s sugar refiners must help ensure a stable supply, the Ministry of Commerce said.
-- China must prepare for a long-term fight against inflation as price gains this year will exceed the government s target, the nation s top planning agency said.
-- World fertilizer use will jump 4.7 percent to a record in the 2010-2011 crop year as rising prices for agricultural commodities prompt farmers to apply more plant nutrients, an industry group said.
-- South Korea will remove an import tariff temporarily on milling-wheat shipments effective Jan. 1 to help stabilize local prices, the finance ministry said.
-- Ukraine has harvested 41.5 million tons of grain in the current season, Interfax-Ukraine reported.
-- Ukraine will open a grain terminal with a capacity of 24,000 tons at the port of Kherson on its Black Sea coast in February, UkrAgroConsult said.
-- U.K. cereal production dropped 3 percent to 20.95 million tons in 2010, Defra said.
-- National Australia Bank Ltd. estimated that roughly half of Australia s 24 million tons of wheat will be used in feed or will be downgraded in quality this season.
-- Palm-oil futures in Kuala Lumpur advanced for the second straight day on expectations that global demand for cooking oils will outpace production.
-- Meditrade, an Egyptian commodity buyer, bought 6,000 tons of sunflower oil and 25,000 tons of soybean oil in a tender, according to two traders.
-- Bangladesh is seeking to import 50,000 tons of white rice to fill a domestic shortage, the Directorate General of Food said.
-- Cotton futures in New York jumped to a record on speculation that global demand led by China will surpass supplies.
-- The Tokyo Grain Exchange plans to transfer agricultural- futures trading to the Tokyo Commodity Exchange soon amid plunging volumes.
-- India halted onion exports and more than doubled the benchmark shipment rates after excess rainfall damaged crops and pushed up domestic prices, the Agriculture Ministry said.
