Round one of this week's slew of data saw both bears and bulls draw blood.

Malaysian palm oil inventories ended last month at 2.12m tonnes, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, the kind of figure to weaken prices.

It was 26,000 tonnes more than investors had expected, besides marking a return above the psychologically important 2m-tonne mark, signalling relatively loose stocks.

However, the impact of the data was muted by separate statistics, from Societe Generale de Surveillance, showing palm oil exports soaring 30% month on month during the first 10 days of August.

Rival cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services put the rise at 27%.

Palm oil futures for November stood 0.2% higher at 2,933 ringgit a tonne in Kuala Lumpur at 09:15 UK time (03:15 Chicago time).

'Dryness persisting'

Investors have another batch of data on Tuesday to ingest, when Abares, the Australian commodities bureau, reveals its quarterly crop report, amid waning ideas for crops following continued dryness.

WxRisk.com noted that the weekend brought Australia weather which was "dry in all areas of western and south western regions as well as eastern and south eastern portions".

Nor is relief on its way.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia's Luke Mathews said: "Local crop concerns continue to edge higher with dryness persisting throughout New South Wales and Queensland." Concerns are high about Western Australia too.

"Little rain is forecast for the coming week."

Algeria downgrade

The upshot is that Abares may on Tuesday "cut their wheat crop forecast below our August estimate of 24m tonnes because of ongoing dryness throughout much of the Australian grain belt", Mr Mathews said.

Rival Rabobank on Friday cut its forecast to 22.8m tonnes.

And that was one reason for supporting wheat futures in early deals, which added 0.9% to $9.13 ½ a bushel in Chicago, for December delivery.

A cut of 200,000 tonnes to 5.2m tonnes over the weekend in Algeria's forecast for its grains harvest also cheered bulls. Algeria is a major wheat importer.

'Lack of aggressive offers'

Friday's data showing small-than-expected Canadian wheat inventories also continued to offer some support.

Brian Henry at Benson Quinn Commodities said: "The fact the Canada has not been overly aggressive on the export market should be attributed to the process of shifting away from the single desk export mechanism," ie the removal of the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly over sales from the Prairies.

"However, slightly tighter stocks may be reflected by their recent lack of aggressive offers."

Furthermore, US regulatory statistics on Friday showed the speculators returning to a more positive stance on wheat, raising their net long position, by 4,100 lots, but still, at some 72,700 contracts, retaining some room for more.

"It appears funds have plenty of room to add additional long positions, if upward momentum continues," Mr Henry said.

Wasde ahead

But the main course of data comes on Wednesday, when the US Department of Agriculture unveils its monthly Wasde crop report, expected to show cuts to both US corn and soybean yields.

The corn yield estimate is expected to be cut from 123.4 bushels per acre to 120.6 bushels per acre, a factor which, with fellow grain wheat rising too, helped Chicago's December corn contract add 0.6% to $8.04 a bushel.

This, though, may not be investors' last word, with positioning ahead of the Wasde often producing some price swings besides investor wariness.

Also, South Korea's Korea Feed Association bought 55,000 tonnes of corn, of US and South American origin, at an average price of at $330.59 per tonne on a cost and freight (CFR) basis, showing some demand even at these lofty values.

Chinese rationing?

For soybeans, the data elsewhere in the oilseeds complex, in palm oil, helped soyoil itself, the rival vegetable oil, which added 0.6% to 56.59 cents a pound in Chicago for October delivery.

And indeed soybeans themselves made gains too, looking to the prospect of a Wasde downgrade for the US yield figure, to 35.8 bushels per acre from 36.1 bushels per acre rather than succumbing to pressure from weak Chinese imports.

China, the top buyer, imported 42m tonnes of soybeans last month, the lowest figure in six months, and down 25% on July's number, customs data showed.

Soybeans for November added 0.3% to 17.42 a bushel.

India downgrade

In New York, raw sugar maintained its rebound from two-year lows, helped by a 1m-tonne downgrade, to 24m tonnes, in the Indian Sugar Mills' Association estimate for Indian production of the sweetener.

Production in Maharashtra, the top sugar producing state, is expected to drop 3m tonnes to 6m tonnes in 2012-13, the association said, citing weak monsoon rains.

Raw sugar for October added 0.5% to 19.47 cents a pound.