By Kirk Maltais
--Wheat for December delivery rose 1.7% to $5.90 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday with short-covering sparked by a new wave of Russian attacks targeting Ukrainian exporting infrastructure.
--Corn for December delivery rose 0.9% to $4.82 a bushel.
--Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.2% to $12.99 3/4 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Fresh Offensive: Wheat futures on the CBOT led grains higher today, driven by reports of Russia attacking Ukrainian port and grain storage facilities. Damage and its effect on the flow of wheat exports globally is supportive for prices, especially as world demand for exports appears to be rising, said Charlie Sernatinger of Marex in a note. He also adds that negotiations for a new export corridor in the Black Sea seem far away from any sort of resolution.
Growing Interest: A flash sale of over 1.6 million metric tons of corn to Mexico provided some support for corn -- although other sources of pressure are keeping it limited. "Mexico had a really tough growing season, expect them to be aggressive importers," said John Payne of Hedgepoint Global. Payne adds that traders are still looking for other signs of improving export demand for grains as a whole.
INSIGHT
Slimming Variety: Agricultural output in the U.S. is increasingly consolidating into just two crops -- corn and soybeans, according to data published by professors from Ohio State University and Illinois University, citing data pulled from the USDA. The consolidation has been steady over the last 60 years, growing from 62% corn and soybeans in 1965 to an estimate of 87% as of 2022. "Given that US grain and oilseed acres have been range bound between 225 and 250 million acres since 1985, the increasing concentration in corn and soybeans can be seen as an outcome of the private market balancing supply and demand to maintain US production of grains and oilseeds," said the report.
Off to a Better Start: In its latest Grain Export Inspections report, the USDA said soybean inspections totaled 481,638 metric tons for the week ended September 21, which is up from 429,772 tons reported in the previous week. Wheat inspections totaled 451,004 tons, up from 422,639 tons. Corn inspections, meanwhile, were slightly down from the previous week. Inspections were reported at 660,811 tons through September 21, which is slightly off from 676,323 tons previously.
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 US Drought Monitor will release its updated map at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.
--The USDA will release its quarterly hogs and pigs report at 3 p.m. ET Thursday.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-25-23 1609ET
