By Kirk Maltais


--Corn for May delivery rose 2.9% to $8.13 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Monday, pushing past the $8-a-bushel threshold for the first time since 2012 in expectation of slow planting progress for U.S. crops.

--Wheat for July delivery rose 2.2% to $11.28 3/4 a bushel.

--Soybeans for May delivery rose 1.9% to $17.14 3/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Record Territory: Corn futures surpassed the $8-a-bushel threshold in morning trading, the first time that prices have gone past that mark since August 2012. The all-time record for the corn continuous contract was set on Aug. 21, 2012--at $8.39 a bushel. For corn, the move higher in recent sessions--up over 8% since the start of April--comes as the war in Ukraine continues to rage and weather in the U.S. Corn Belt is keeping farmers from getting started with their planting. "The potential loss of Ukraine exports of corn makes the world situation tighter and could be enough to keep corn prices trending higher for now," said Jack Scoville of Price Futures Group in a note.

Dragging On: Fighting in Ukraine continued to be the main driver for wheat futures. "Wheat is higher as traders see no end in sight for the Black Sea conflict," said Terry Reilly of Futures International in a note. Russian missile strikes hit the western Ukrainian city of Lviv Monday, which stands out as fighting has been focused mostly in the eastern portion of the country. In the city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials rejected Russia's demand to surrender the city. A lingering conflict is seen as pressuring the availability of wheat exports globally.


INSIGHTS


Early Reaction: Near-record grain futures on the CBOT come even with the summer growing season yet to begin, said Arlan Suderman of StoneX in a note. "We're entering the growing season with tight enough global supplies to justify prices near record highs, leaving little to no margin for error in this summer's weather," said Mr. Suderman. "Forecasting July and August weather in the Midwest in April is tricky, with relatively low confidence."

Interest From China: Export inspections for U.S. soybeans are higher this week, and are well up from this time last year. In its latest grain export inspections report, the USDA said that soybean inspections for the week ended April 14 totaled 972,509 metric tons, up from 818,689 tons reported last week and well up from 222,065 tons at the same time last year. China was the leading destination for U.S. soybeans for the week, totaling 301,008 tons. Other leading destinations include Egypt, Indonesia and Japan.


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 Cattle on Feed report at 3 p.m. ET Friday.

--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

04-18-22 1458ET