TOP STORIES:

Wheat Rises as Weather Threatens to Shrink Crop

Wheat for September delivery rose 0.4% to $5.26 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday, with a decline in crop quality spearheading the notion among traders that U.S. wheat supplies may be tighter than those of corn or soybeans.

Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.3% to $8.77 1/2 a bushel.

Corn for December delivery fell 0.8% to $3.33 3/4 a bushel.

STORIES OF INTEREST:

USDA Reports Over 1.7M Tons of Corn Sold to China -- Market Talk

09:30 ET - The USDA says that China has purchased 1.762M metric tons of US corn exports for delivery in the 2020/21 marketing year, as well as 190,000 tons of soybeans. China has now purchased over 3.1M tons of US corn over the course of the past few days--and considering that managed money funds still have a large short position in corn futures, the tide of sales could influence more closings of short positions, driving corn futures higher today. As of the CFTC's last commitment of traders report, funds are holding a net short position of just over 150,000 contracts. Overnight, December corn futures up 0.6%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

Resurgence in Covid-19 Could Derail Ethanol Recovery -- Market Talk

09:20 ET - An uptick in Covid-19 cases seen in many states could halt the recovery in ethanol production, says Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage. "There is a lot of concern that if more states begin to shut back down over Covid concerns, that could affect gasoline demand and thus the demand for ethanol," says Pfitzenmaier. Back in late April, ethanol production hit its lowest level since reporting of data began in 2010, totaling 537,000 barrels per day according to EIA data. It has since recovered to 914,000 barrels per day, but that may soon hit a wall if more shutdowns are required to quell a resurgence in the disease, says Pfitzenmaier. The EIA will report updated ethanol production data on Wednesday. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

Egypt Seeks Wheat for August Delivery

Egypt's state import agency launched a tender late Monday to buy an unspecified amount of wheat for delivery between Aug. 16 and 26.

Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities said it was seeking cargoes of soft and/or milling wheat from the U.S., Canada, France, Bulgaria, Australia, Poland, Germany, the U.K., Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Hungary, Paraguay or Kazakhstan.

THE MARKETS:

Hog Futures Follow Cutouts Down -- Market Talk

15:40 ET - Livestock futures follow cutout prices lower Tuesday, with hog futures on the CME closing down 2.6% to 49.925 cents per pound. Carcass cutout values fell $1.43 per hundredweight on Monday, to $67.52 per cwt. Ribs fell $6.59 per cwt, to $111.78 per cwt. A slowdown in restaurant reopenings due to the resurgence of Covid-19 is putting pressure on meat prices this week. Live cattle futures, meanwhile, fall 0.9% to 98.8 cents per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)