Markets return to regular time trades for the rest of the week.

This morning’s grain trade lacks fresh news, so anticipated openings are mixed. Russia released its 2024 final Russian crop estimate earlier today, and they put the all-grain crop at 125 MMTs and the wheat crop at 82.4 MMTs. The USDA estimated the 24 Russian wheat crop was 81.5 MMTs. Russian FOB grain markets are not defined this morning, and we do not expect to see Russian financial markets back into full swing until January 13 due to their Orthodox Christmas holiday. Algeria booked 630,000 MTs of wheat for February/March at an average price of $ 257-258 CIF, which includes freight. It was likely from Eastern European and Ukrainian wheat sources.

USDA/FAS weekly export sales reports released Thursday mornings will be released on Friday. This is expected to account for ongoing soybean and corn sales. Mexico and Colombia have added to their forward coverage in recent business days.

Overnight action has March Paris wheat futures still closed, while Malaysian February palm oil futures drifted three ringgits to 4698 ringgits/MT in SE Asia. China’s Dalian January corn futures rallied 5 cents/Bu to $7.25, while January soybeans were higher by $0.60/MT at $388.10.

South American weather continues to be favorable for Brazil, but Argentina continues to have below-normal rainfall trends. There is a slight chance of showers over the next 10 days, but those shower chances look to produce under 1 inch of rainfall.

On Tuesday, live and feeder cattle futures were mixed in very thin trade. December live cattle prepares for expiration early next week while the feeder cattle futures remain discounted to the cash indexes. Negotiated fed cattle trade has an asking price in the South at $192, which would be $1 higher for the week, while bids were quoted $1 lower at $190. Box beef on Monday was up $0.13 for choice at $315.98 and .85 cents higher for select at $ 286.75. There were no quotes on Tuesday. Choice cutout values are $ 25 higher than last year, while select is up $ 26. These are record values for late December.