By Kirk Maltais
--Soybeans for November delivery rose 1.4% to $12.37 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Monday as soybeans were lifted by higher vegetable oil prices, which in turn were supported by higher natural gas prices.
--Wheat for December delivery rose 0.5% to $7.59 1/2 a bushel.
--Corn for December delivery was unchanged at $5.38 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Energetic: Soybean futures led the CBOT grains complex higher. For soybeans, the strength in futures comes from soyoil, which is riding momentum from fuel prices. "The edible oils markets continue to push higher along with energy prices due to the recently discovered value of the oils for manufacturing the new generation of renewable fuels, which includes both renewable diesel and aviation fuel," said Arlan Suderman of StoneX. Soyoil futures closed up 1.7% in trading Monday at over 63 cents per pound. Natural gas prices surged today, rising 12% for the largest one-day percentage gain since Tuesday, September 29, 2020.
Waterlogged: Harvesting of U.S. row crops hit some delays over the weekend, which helped support grain futures on Monday. Terry Reilly of Futures International also points to "higher lead in outside markets, and tight global wheat stocks." Scattered rainfall occurred throughout the Midwest over the weekend, and is expected to continue into this week, according to DTN. "The Eastern Corn Belt will remain very wet this week... there will be a small window of dry weather, but it will take a few days for fields to dry down," said Mr. Reilly.
INSIGHTS
Demand Drive: Demand is an overarching theme for grains, particularly wheat. Weather may limit the amount of winter wheat planted globally. "Ideas [are] that the U.S. will have good demand for wheat as the rest of the northern hemisphere is short production this year," said Jack Scoville of Price Futures Group. Weather in Europe and Russia is being closely watched by grain traders, who say that difficulties planting winter wheat amid wet conditions in those areas are prompting some major buyers to look toward different sources to lock in their export needs.
Inspections Slump: U.S. grain export inspections slipped from a strong showing the previous week, according to USDA data. The government said that for the week ended October 21 corn export inspections totaled 545,127 metric tons, while those for soybeans totaled 2.1 million tons and wheat totaled 140,413 tons. All three of the totals are down from the previous week, with corn posting the biggest slide, being roughly half of last week's showing. China continues to be the leading destination for U.S. soybeans, with the USDA reporting that 1.54 million tons of soybeans were inspected for shipment there. Mexico was the leading destination for U.S. corn, and Taiwan was the leading destination for U.S. wheat.
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 agricultural prices 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
10-25-21 1552ET
