DES MOINES, Iowa (Agriculture.com)--On Friday, the CME Group corn, soybean and wheat markets are seen higher.

The early calls for the commodities on Thursday, February 21, 2013, are lower. Corn is seen opening 1-2 cents higher. Soybeans are seen 17-18 cents higher and wheat 3-5 cents higher.

In overnight trading, the March corn futures contract traded 1 cent higher at $6.92 per bushel. March soybean futures traded 19 cents higher at $15.06 per bushel, and March wheat traded 3 cents higher at $7.24. For March soybean meal futures, the contract traded $6.70 per short ton higher at $444.00. March soybean oil futures traded $0.15 cents higher at $51.46. 

The outside markets are unfavorable for Friday's grain trade. The real factors driving the calls will be the higher overnight markets.

Discuss the corn, soybean and wheat markets in Marketing Talk.

On Friday, the USDA released its delayed Weekly Export Sales Report. As of Sunday, the previous week's corn exports totaled 381,900 metric tons vs. the trade's expectations of 100-300,000 metric tons.

Soybean exports were estimated at 58,500 mt vs. the trade's expectations of 500-900,000 metric tons

USDA pegged U.S. weekly wheat exports at 755,900 mt vs. the trade's expectations of 350-600,000 metric tons.