CBOT Early Call

The overnight grains were mixed with wheat 4-6c easier, soybeans 1-2c firmer and corn narrowly either side.

Crude oil is almost a dollar lower at USD73.92/barrel.

The market's concerns over potential frost damage in China over the weekend seem to have been largely allayed.

The soybean harvest is already a third completed, and what isn't harvested is mature so sub-zero temperatures will have caused little damage, according to CNGOIC.

Corn and soybean futures were down on the Dalian Exchange overnight on ideas that frost talk had been overdone.

China bought 170,000 MT of US soybeans overnight, according to the USDA.

The USDA left crop condition ratings unchanged after the close last night with corn 68% good/excellent and beans at 63%.

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has apparently re-iterated his earlier statement that the grain export embargo could in fact be lifted this year. That seems extremely unlikely to me, but there we have it.

Early calls for this afternoon's CBOT session: corn steady to down 1c, beans up 1-2c, wheat dn 3-5c.