Grain futures slip before Wednesday CBOT resumption

The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day. 0836 ET - CBOT grain futures slide as the market begins to steel itself for this Friday's WASDE report. "Traders are starting to position themselves," says Cory Bratland of AgMarket.net in a note. Analysts surveyed by WSJ forecast a slightly lower production outlook for corn, with a yield cut of 0.9 bushels per acre from the prior month's estimate of 178.5 bpa. Soybean production and yields are expected to inch higher, with yields seen at 52.9 bushels an acre. With traders still holding sizable long positions in grains, rallies ahead of the report are expected to be limited, says Bratland. Corn slides 0.7% premarket, soybeans fall 0.1%, and wheat is down 0.9%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com) 0832 ET - A workers strike at Antofagasta's Centinela copper and gold mine in Chile is a surprise, but likely to be resolved within a couple of weeks, RBC's Ben Davis and David Monus write. They add that given tight inventories in the copper market outside of the U.S., the action could have a larger than normal impact on prices. "Higher copper prices incentivize bigger asks from unions, but there has been remarkably little strike action year to date," they say. RBC has an underperform rating on the stock and 33.00 pound target price. Shares are down 3.55% at 36.93 pounds, but 13% higher over the year-to-date. (ian.walker@wsj.com) 0622 ET - Europe's refining industry is key to the continent's energy policy, says Liana Gouta, director-general of industry group FuelsEurope. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen this week announced a strategic dialogue on European refineries, a move aimed at bringing down diesel costs and ensuring supply, including for Europe's defense industry. That launch is welcome, Gouta says. "We look forward to working with policymakers to ensure that competitiveness, security of supply and industrial transformation advance together, supported by a strong and resilient European refining sector," she says. Boosting refineries is a "long-term prerequisite" for Europe's climate, energy and industrial goals, says the group, whose energy-major members include ExxonMobil, BP, Italy's Eni and Norway's Equinor. (joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby) 0612 ET - Palm oil futures closed lower, weighed by weaker soybean oil and concerns about high domestic inventories, says David Ng, trader at Kuala Lumpur-based Iceberg X. Ng expects crude palm oil futures to find support at 4,500 ringgit a ton and face resistance at 4,650 ringgit a ton. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for December delivery fell 36 ringgit to 4,566 ringgit a ton. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang) 0551 ET - Gold's structural drivers haven't disappeared despite the recent correction, Phillip Nova's Priyanka Sachdeva says in a note. Spot gold has corrected to the $4,100-$4,200 an ounce region this week and is last 1.1% lower at $4,118.09 an ounce. Still, geopo