By Kirk Maltais
--Soybeans for May delivery rose 1%, to $14.94 1/4 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Wednesday, with traders seeing prices as low enough to attract export buyers.
--Corn for May delivery climbed 0.9% to $6.35 3/4 a bushel.
--Wheat for May delivery advanced 0.6% to $7.10 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Piqued Interest: Rumors of interest in purchasing large volumes of U.S. corn and soybeans have been floating around the market this week, and those rumors intensified today - nudging grains out of a recent funk and back into positive territory. "Traders wonder if price has reached levels stoking fresh demand," said AgResource in a note. Meanwhile, traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal today appear hopeful that tomorrow's export sales report from the USDA improves from last week's weak showing.
Bottoms Up!: After being on the decline for the past five sessions, grain futures today appeared to find a bottom - at least for now. "Definitely seeing a bounce from a technically oversold situation in all markets," Joel Karlin of Ocean State Research told the WSJ. Mr. Karlin also notes that continued uncertainty surrounding Russia again extending the Black Sea Grains Initiative had traders hedging their bets in case of a new supply disruption. The deal is currently set to expire on March 19.
INSIGHT
Saving the Day: Wheat growing in the southern regions of Russia has been under duress due to dry conditions there. However, recent precipitation may boost the prospects for the crop, said consultancy SovEcon in a note. The firm says precipitation in the southern region has exceeded average levels by 2-3 times in the past two weeks, helping to rejuvenate dry soil there. "The improved weather implies that Russian winter wheat is approaching its vegetation stage in the key growing region in much better condition than several weeks ago," said Andrey Sizov of SovEcon.
Stepping Back: Both daily production and inventories of ethanol in the U.S. took a dive in the past week, exceeding the expectations of analysts. In its latest report, the EIA said daily ethanol production fell to 1.003 million barrels a day in the U.S. for the week ended Feb. 24. That's down from 1.029 million barrels a day reported last week by the EIA. Inventories also dialed back, falling to 24.78 million barrels, down from 25.59 million barrels previously. Last week's inventory level was the highest it's been since last April.
Hopeful Note: Sentiment about demand for commodities in China is looking up thanks to improvements seen in PMI data out of the country. China's Caixin manufacturing PMI rose from 49.2 in January to 51.6 in February, suggesting a turn from contraction to growth of its manufacturing sector. The turnaround is faster than expected by analysts, said Bill Weatherburn of Capital Economics in a note, which may mean that demand for commodities - particularly metals and crude oil - should grow past initial forecasts. "Overall, the PMI surveys suggest that the risks to China's commodities demand are tilted to the upside," said Mr. Weatherburn in the note.
AHEAD
--Hormel Foods Corp. will release its first-quarter earnings report at 6:30 a.m. ET Thursday.
--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.
--The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-01-23 1537ET
