LONDON (Commodity Online): Grains prices closed Thursday on a mixed note again, following the logic of the data revisions in Wednesday's USDA October WASDE report which was bearish for wheat, neutral for Corn and bullish for soybeans, but lacked the sort of significant catalyst to alter the fundamental way in which these markets are viewed.

Wheat prices posted widespread declines: front month CBOT wheat dropped 8.75 cents on the day; KBOT wheat closed 10 cents lower and MGEX shed 20.5 cents on the day. Corn prices posted more modest declines, with the front month December CBOT contract easing 2.5 cents on the day to close at $6.38/bushel.

Despite no positive surprises in the October USDA WASDE report, corn prices are supported by the recent spate of Chinese buying. The USDA yesterday reported the sale of 900Kt of US corn to China – the second largest sale of US corn in a single day to China. This followed news on Wednesday when traders were cited as saying China had purchased 1.5mn tonnes of corn.

Meanwhile soybean prices closed 17.5 cents higher on the day, at $12.57/bushel buoyed by the USDA's downward revision of 2011 soybean yields (revised down by 0.3 bushels/acre to 41.5 bushels/acre) contrary to market expectations, while US harvested soybean acreage was revised down as well, to 73.7mn acres.

In early trade, Corn and soybeans are trading higher. Across soft commodities, Cocoa prices are firmer this morning, continuing Thursday's gains in the wake of a positive set of Q3 German and European cocoa grindings data which rose by 36.18% y/y and 14% y/y, respectively.

ICE Cotton prices closed modestly higher Thursday despite a bearish WASDE report. In news, Reuters reported that a website operated by China National Cotton Reserves Corp showed that China's cotton imports in September rose 26% y/y to 252.7Kt, citing customs data. Cotton imports in the first nine months of this year totalled 1.94mn tonnes, down 9.7% y/y.

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