CHICAGO, Illinois (Agriculture.com)--The pre-opening prices for the CME Group grain commodities for Friday, March 18, 2011 are sharply higher. Corn is seen opening 22-24 cents higher, soybeans 10-12 cents higher, and wheat 18-20 cents higher. 

In overnight electronic trading, the May corn futures contract traded 25 1/2 cents higher at $6.72 per bushel. The May soybean futures contract traded 6 1/4 cents higher at $13.41 1/2 per bushel. The May wheat futures contract traded 24 1/2 cents higher at $7.34 1/2. For May soymeal futures, the contract traded $0.10 lower at $358.50, and May soyoil $0.92 higher at $55.44.

The outside markets are supportive for Friday's grain trade. The real factors driving the higher early calls are sharply higher overnight markets.