By Kirk Maltais

--Wheat for March delivery rose 1.9% to settle at $5.81 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday, after hitting a 17-month high intraday on speculation that troubles in Australia, France, Russia and the U.S. could lead to reduced supplies.

--Corn for March delivery lost 0.5% to $3.87 1/2 a bushel.

--Soybeans for March delivery fell 1.5% to $9.16 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Wheat Worries: Supplies are at risk from a number of global factors. "French grain markets are embroiled in a labor/transit strike while Russian farmers are tight-fisted with existing old crop wheat stocks," AgResource said. Added to those worries are estimated damage to crops in Australia from widespread fires and record-low U.S. wheat acres.

Bean Voyage: Soybean exports inspected by the USDA came in at the high end of traders' expectations, totaling nearly 1.2 million metric tons. About 551,000 tons were allocated for export to China, according to the USDA, a 33% increase over the previous week. Still, traders were skeptical Tuesday. "Doubt over the benefit of the phase one agreement working is growing, with some economists calling the projected Chinese import levels unrealistic," said Karl Setzer of AgriVisor.

INSIGHT

Bean Bulls: Managed-money firms have taken a net long position on U.S. soybeans for the first time since late November, according to CFTC data, possibly indicating hopes that the U.S.-China trade deal, signed last week, would lead Beijing to buy more beans.

AHEAD

--The EIA releases its weekly update on ethanol production and inventories at 11 a.m. ET Thursday.

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 21, 2020 15:54 ET (20:54 GMT)

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