By Kirk Maltais

--Soybeans for July delivery fell 0.7% to $16.81 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Wednesday as funds continued to sell on a positive weather outlook for U.S. farmers.

--Wheat for July delivery fell 0.6% to $11.48 1/4 a bushel.

--Corn for July delivery rose 0.1% to $7.72 1/4 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Right Stuff: The weather outlook going forward for the week is favorable for U.S. farmers. "Rain increases for the Midwest through the end of the workweek before drying down this weekend," said Terry Reilly of Futures International in a note. "That should favor recently planted spring grains." Earlier this week, the USDA reported that 72% of US corn has been planted, with 50% of soybeans planted and 49% of spring wheat planted. While all three are below the usual rate of planting, it's a large improvement from delays earlier this month.

Open to Talk: Indications from the Russian government that it may be willing to reopen Ukrainian ports for food shipments in return for the easing of sanctions were also a pressure point for grains. "This had been something that had been floated by people in recent weeks but this is the first time Russia had really commented on the matter," said Richard Buttenshaw of Marex in a note. "As is the case though, Russia is not particularly in the generous mood right now, so it does not come without conditions that really may be hard to meet."

Taking the Opportunity: End users of U.S. grains were instrumental in CBOT futures paring early-day losses late in the trading session. "Funds are sizable early net sellers, but end users are finally getting their chance to extend forward coverage into July/August," said AgResource in a note, adding that soybean crushers, ethanol grinders and wheat importers are examples of end users taking advantage of the dip.

INSIGHTS

Potential to Drop: Grain traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this week are forecasting a potential drop-off in new export sales of grains. Corn sales are expected to total from 400,000 metric tons to 1 million tons, versus 1.02 million tons reported last week. Soybean sales are seen between 400,000 tons to 1.3 million tons, versus 902,200 tons last week. Wheat is expected to total between 150,000 tons to 500,000 tons, versus 334,100 tons last week. This week's report comes amid increased focus on U.S. export demand by traders, with China and Brazil reaching a deal to lock in more South American corn exports.

Hitting the High End: Daily production of U.S. ethanol through the past week rose to the high-end of analyst expectations. The EIA said daily U.S. ethanol production hit a rate of 1.014 million barrels per day for the week ended May 20. That's the upper-end of expectations, with analysts surveyed by Dow Jones this week forecasting production anywhere from 980,000 barrels per day to 1.014 million barrels per day.

AHEAD:

-Sanderson Farms Inc. will release its second-quarter earnings report on 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

May 25, 2022 15:48 ET (19:48 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.