By Anthony Harrup


-- Soybeans for March delivery fell 1.4% to $12.22 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade as export sales for last week came in below expectations

-- Corn for March delivery slipped 0.3% to $4.51 a bushel

-- Wheat for March delivery rose 0.2% to $6.12 a bushel


HIGHLIGHTS


Disappointing Sales: Soybean futures retreat after the USDA reports export sales for the 2023-24 marketing year fell 28% in the week through Jan. 18. Sales of 560,900 metric tons were below estimates of 700,000 tons to 1.23 million tons in a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts.


Brazil Crop in Sight: Lagging demand for U.S. soybeans added to concerns about China and others finding it cheaper to buy from Brazil, analysts said.

"Brazil has started harvesting its crop, and its cash market is indicating that they are not concerned about a short crop down there," said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX.


INSIGHT


Grain Bears: Citi is sticking to its neutral-to-bearish stance on grains in 1Q, and bearish outlook for the second half of the year. "We expect 2024 to continue to be a year of staple grains price deflation and for prices to generally grind lower into 2H," analysts said in a report. "Robust U.S. field crop plantings, a flip to ENSO [El Niño] neutral conditions in 2Q, and Argentina export growth should keep prices trending lower amid a weak global growth outlook," they added.

Citi tweaked its 0-3 month price targets, cutting soybeans by 50 cents to $12.50 a bushel, raising wheat by 15 cents to $5.50 a bushel, and leaving corn at $4.35 a bushel. Six- to 12-month targets are $3.85 for corn, $5 for wheat and $11.50 for soybeans.


AHEAD


-- The CFTC is scheduled to release its weekly Commitments of Traders Report at 3:30 p.m. EST Friday.

-- The USDA is due to release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. EST Monday.

-- The EIA is scheduled to release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. EST Wednesday.


Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-25-24 1633ET