By Kirk Maltais

-- Wheat for July delivery fell 4.4% to $7.28 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Monday, with large funds capturing some of their profits ahead of Wednesday's WASDE report.

-- Corn for July delivery fell 2.6% to $7.13 a bushel.

-- Soybeans for July delivery fell 0.2% to $15.92 3/4 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Wary For WASDE: Profit-taking in grains among fund traders appeared mostly focused on wheat, with the most-active contract leading the CBOT down Monday. Much of the selling appears to be related to Wednesday's WASDE report from the USDA. "The report is one of the most important of the spring, and the recent conservative nature of USDA regarding China has placed fund managers on the defensive," said AgResource.

Dampened Spirits: Wetter-than-expected weather in U.S. planting areas over the weekend weighed on grain futures and "dampened the wicks on many a bull candle," said Dan Hueber of the Hueber Report, adding that the selling Monday came "despite generally supportive news from around the globe, including another big export sale of corn to China." Hueber summed it up by saying, "Do not lose sight of the fact that we have experienced ten months of nearly uninterrupted rally in the grain/soy sector, which means we have no doubt developed a certain amount of 'anticipatory' premium in these markets."

INSIGHTS

China Chatter: The USDA confirmed this morning that China has canceled more corn it had intended to buy in the 2020/21 marketing year, while buying more in the 2021/22 marketing year. According to the USDA, China has purchased 1.02 million metric tons of corn for next year, while canceling 280,000 tons that was scheduled for delivery in the current marketing year. The cancellation of exports for the current marketing year suggests that corn futures may have reached a level where demand rationing is kicking in. "Considering the recent gains, the shape that the crop went in in most areas, and the improved weather outlook, new crop corn looks to have downside risk," said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives.

Biofuel Buildup: Archer Daniels Midland Co. announced Monday plans to build a new soybean crush facility in North Dakota, in order to meet increased demand for soy products in the animal feeds and biofuel industries. According to ADM, the facility will be a $350 million plant built in Spiritwood, N.Dak., and will process approximately 150,000 bushels of soybeans per day. The plant is scheduled to come online ahead of the 2023 harvest. The announcement comes as soybean oil futures on the CBOT have been on a steady climb--up over 50% year-to-date.

Inspections Down: Corn export inspections fell this week, this indication coming as the USDA confirms China is switching corn purchases from the current marketing year to the next one. For the week ended May 6, corn export inspections totaled 1.71 million metric tons--down from 2.21 million tons in the previous week. China and Japan are among the two major destinations for corn inspected, at 342,056 tons and 334,529 tons, respectively. Meanwhile, soybean inspections and wheat inspections are up slightly from the previous week--with soybeans at 236,918 tons and wheat at 545,587 tons.

AHEAD:

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

--The USDA will release its monthly supply and demand report at noon ET Wednesday.

--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 10, 2021 15:45 ET (19:45 GMT)

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