1.   Cargill and Continental Grain, the two largest grain traders, agreed to merge in November.

2.   For cash grain traders, though, the autumn is expected to be especially challenging amid a shortage of available transportation.

3.   Grain traders are used to seeing shortages of rail equipment at harvest time, yet this year should prove to be the worst in a long time.

4.   Grain traders said talk of possible large U.S. corn sales to China and Japan boosted prices despite the lack of confirmation.

5.   IGC reports are widely watched by grain traders as a monthly barometer of global supply and demand.

6.   Initially, grain traders worried about the impact.

7.   Of all the firms involved in agriculture, the largest are already the grain traders and seed producers, most of the latter owned by big chemical firms.

8.   The only major opponents were the National Grain and Feed Association, whose grain traders and exporters profit from storing, selling and exporting huge volumes of grain.

9.   The potential order comes as tight supplies have left large grain traders reluctant to relinquish available inventories.

10.   Zlochevsky and a delegation of Russian grain traders today visited the Chicago Board of Trade, accompanied by representatives of the U.S. Feed Grains Council.