By Kirk Maltais


--Wheat for March delivery fell 3.6% to $6.09 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday, with traders speculating that China doesn't have any further flash U.S. import purchases in the pipeline.

--Corn for March delivery fell 0.7% to $4.82 a bushel.

--Soybeans for January delivery rose 2.6% to $13.37 3/4 a bushel


HIGHLIGHTS


End of the Line: CBOT wheat fell as grain traders speculated that China has completed its set of wheat export purchases from the U.S., at least in the near-term. "Traders are betting that China has finished its U.S. soft red winter wheat purchases with U.S. fob wheat values now above French/Australian offers," said AgResource in a note. The USDA did confirm a flash sale this morning, but it was for 132,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to unknown destinations.

Eyes to the South: Soybeans were supported as grain trader attention returns to South America after a lackluster WASDE report from the USDA on Friday. With Argentina's new president being sworn in, sharp changes in policy are expected there -- this while Brazilian weather continues to impact the health of soybean crops grown there, said Steve Freed of ADM Investor Services in a note.

Matter of Supply: Friday's WASDE report from the USDA showed a reduction in ending stocks forecast for U.S. corn -- but left them still above 2 billion bushels, which is nearly 800 million higher than last year's figure. This is giving fund traders little reason to further the short-covering seen in the week through Dec. 8. "We are seeing better demand, but with stocks to use above 14% there is little reason for additional managed money buying," said Karl Setzer of Consus Ag Consulting in a note. The lack of urgency allowed corn futures to stay down throughout the day.


INSIGHT


Disease Impact: The resurgence of African Swine Fever in Asia may impact demand for soymeal in China -- although it's unclear whether or not the country will opt to stockpile unused crushed soybeans, said Arlan Suderman of StoneX in a note. "There's even some question whether it will crush 98 million metric tons in the current year, considering the hog liquidation currently in place, as well as China's attempts to reduce soymeal inclusion in rations," Suderman said. "Yet, there remains a possibility that China will continue to push imports to further build its reserves due to ongoing geopolitical tensions that it may fear could put future imports at risk."

Lesser Interest: Open interest in commodities has fallen to its lowest level in six months at $1.19 trillion, said JPMorgan Global Commodities Research in a note. The firm says that commodities shed value across asset classes -- with agricultural markets dropping 4.4%, precious metals falling 6.4%, and energy markets dropping 3% for the week ended Dec. 8. In agriculture, sugar was a leading factor pushing open interest down, said JPM. "Sugar prices have plummeted by 18% from a recent high seen in early November… largely driven by India's transformative ethanol policy change which mandates mills to immediately stop using cane juice and sugar syrup for ethanol production," said the firm.


AHEAD


--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

--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

12-11-23 1532ET