Trading Action Holding Up

CHICAGO - Jan 10/08 - SNS -- International agriculture commodity markets maintained a relatively busy tone during the past week, with more importers targeting North American suppliers because of efforts by many other countries to control food price inflation by limited or preventing exports.

Markets are not anticipating significant changes on the supply side of the equation in tomorrow's final USDA crop report for the 2006 growing season, but the supply and demand reports could see some important declines in forecast ending stocks because of good demand for U.S. origin grains.

Surveys of traders reveal they are looking for estimated corn ending stocks to drop from a forecast 1,797 million bushels to 1,698 million, with guesses ranging between 1,564 and 1,785 million bushels. Soybean stocks are expected to drop from 185 to 170 million bushels, with guesses ranging between 144 and 185 million. Wheat stocks are expected to slip from 280 to 274 million bushels, with guesses ranging between 230 and 316 million.

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