By Kirk Maltais


--Soybeans for January delivery rose 0.8%, to $13.63 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday, getting a lift from adverse weather conditions in Brazil, along with strong performance in soybean oil.

--Wheat for December delivery rose 0.5%, to $5.76 1/4 a bushel.

--Corn for December delivery rose 0.1%, to $4.78 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Turn of Events: Brazilian weather patterns over the weekend were seen as unsupportive for Brazil's nascent crop, receiving too much rain in the southern part of the country while the northern portion stays dry. "There is talk that Brazil may need to replant as much as 20-25 percent of acres," said Steve Freed of ADM Investor Services in a note. A squeeze on Brazilian supply may push more business to U.S. exports, although Brazil was initially forecast to have a record-size crop by estimating agency Conab.

Going Green: Soybean oil closed up 2.7% in Monday's session, after being up over 5% earlier in the day. This gave soybeans a boost and allowed them to lead gains in the grains complex. Higher crude oil prices and a mandate in California that requires commercial trucking fleets to shift to renewable diesel by Jan. 1 were seen as the factors supporting soyoil, said AgResource in a note. In turn, soybeans received additional support.

Flash Point: The USDA reported a new round of flash sales Monday, which grain traders may take as evidence of improving export market prospects. The USDA said that 126,000 metric tons of soybeans have been sold for delivery to China in the 2023/24 marketing year. Additionally, 289,575 tons of corn were sold to Mexico for delivery in 2023/24. The new round of sales is giving analysts hope that demand for U.S. exports are growing as South America struggles with weather issues for its nascent crops.


INSIGHT


Bland Sentiment: Grain analysts are not hinging much of their outlook for futures on Thursday's WASDE report, with little change in U.S. corn and soybean yields expected, said Daniel Flynn of Price Futures Group in a note. The September and October WASDE reports were closely watched by grain traders to get updated output predictions, and caused wide swings in the CBOT.

Small Changes Expected: Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this week forecast only minor changes to what the USDA will project for the U.S. harvest in its upcoming WASDE report this week. Analysts forecast the USDA will raise corn production by 12 million bushels to 15.08 billion bushels, while soybeans are expected to drop 6 million bushels to just under 4.1 billion bushels. U.S. stockpiles of corn are also projected to rise, while soybean and wheat stocks are expected to stay largely unchanged.


AHEAD


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

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

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


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-06-23 1518ET