By Anthony Harrup


--Wheat for March delivery settled up 0.9% on the Chicago Board of Trade at $5.21 3/4 a bushel, with the Kremlin's offensive in Ukraine seen supporting prices.

--Soybeans for January delivery rose 1.1% to $10.63 1/4 a bushel

--Corn for March delivery rose 0.8% to $4.51 a bushel


Conflict support: Grains futures were higher across the board Wednesday with light trades on Christmas Eve. "Tensions appear to be flaring between Russia and Ukraine, which is supporting the wheat market," Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives said in a note. Russian weather concerns are also helping. "With as short as managed funds have been all year, there is potential for more short-covering through year end," he added.

Testing Resistance: Corn futures continue to find support in strong export sales and expectations that the Agriculture Department will lower its crop estimate next month. Still, analysts see difficulty for the March contract above resistance at $4.50 a bushel. AgResource said it expects "seasonal price trends for corn to turn bearish if the January USDA crop report does not reflect a three bushels-per-acre, plus 2025 corn yield decline."


INSIGHT


Getting there: China is making progress toward the 12 million tons of U.S. soybeans it committed to buying, with StoneX sources showing it has bought well over 8 million tons already, although "USDA confirmation is much lower than that," StoneX's Arlan Suderman said in a note. China has suspended auctions of reserve soybeans to make room for U.S. purchases because the auctions were finding fewer buyers. "That suggests that shipment of the purchased soybeans may take some time," he said.

Export promotion: The Agriculture Department will host six agribusiness trade missions around the world next year, seeking to expand and diversify markets for U.S. producers.

From February through November, missions will be held in Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. Turkey is a regional trans-shipment hub, with the mission expected to connect U.S. exporters with buyers across the Caucasus region, the USDA said, while Saudi Arabia is a gateway to the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf which together import over $3 billion in U.S. agricultural exports a year.

"Boosting exports is critical to the success of the agricultural economy, and the American economy as a whole," the USDA said.


AHEAD


--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Monday

-The USDA will release its weekly Grain Export Inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

-The CFTC will release its Commitment of Traders report covering the week ended Dec. 9 at 3:30 p.m. ET Tuesday.

-The USDA will release its weekly export sales report covering the week ended Dec. 18 at 8:30 a.m. ET Wednesday


Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-24-25 1355ET