By Kirk Maltais


--Soybeans for March delivery rose 2.2% to $12.20 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday, with some traders covering shorts while others remained bearish.

--Wheat for March delivery rose 1.9% to $6.05 a bushel.

--Corn for March delivery rose 1.7% to $4.47 3/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Out of Gas: CBOT grains staged a turnaround after starting the day lower, with gains coming amid a crowded trade in short positions for futures covering the next U.S. crop, AgResource said in a note. "CBOT values reflect a large amount of bearish data/news ahead of a new Northern Hemisphere growing season," the firm said. The rebound also comes as traders mull crop conditions in South America, having attached a lot of selling to better weather conditions there.

Bouncing Off the Floor: Fund traders are still holding a big net short position in CBOT corn futures that has stayed steady in recent weeks. "News is slow with nothing in the market right now to scare managed funds out of their massive short positions," Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives said in a note. In the CFTC's last Commitments of Traders report, the agency reported that fund traders are net short by over 265,000 contracts.

Competitive Shape: Grain traders are hopeful that CBOT prices have finally slumped enough to stimulate export demand around the world. For Russian wheat, the country's impending export quota is another factor drawing traders' attention. "Traders likely seek to fulfill their export contracts before this period," SovEcon said in a note. The Russian quota is set at 24 million metric tons of wheat, corn, barley and rye, with no specific allocation for each crop.


INSIGHT


Biofuel Blahs: Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expect U.S. ethanol inventories to be on par with the previous week, which was a 10-month high. Forecasts range from 25 million barrels to 25.8 million barrels. Analysts are divided about the direction for average daily production, with forecasts ranging from a fall to 743,000 barrels a day, which would be the lowest since February, to a rise above 1 million barrels a day.


AHEAD


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

--Corteva will release its fourth quarter earnings report after the stock market closes on Wednesday.

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

--The USDA will release its monthly Grains Crushing report at 3 p.m. ET Thursday.


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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-30-24 1556ET