By Kirk Maltais


--Soybeans for July delivery fell 2.3% to $16.45 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Monday as traders embraced selling amid forecasts of supportive planting weather and macro inflation concerns.

--Corn for July delivery fell 1.2% to $8.03 1/2 a bushel.

--Wheat for July delivery fell under 0.1% to $10.55 1/2 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Easing Up: Warmer temperatures and rainfall hitting parched growing areas are expected to spur planting progress in areas that are behind pace. "The weather forecast has improved a bit and there is an expectation that planting will progress in some areas this week with more improvement in the forecast for many areas in the Midwest by next weekend," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage in a note. The USDA will release its latest weekly crop progress report this afternoon.

Algo Pressure: Algorithmic trading was a source of pressure on CBOT grain futures, said Arlan Suderman of StoneX in a note. While the initial source of this pressure came from indications of warmer temperatures and generally improved weather conditions for farmers to plant in, other macro concerns like the Federal Reserve's meeting on Wednesday has also influenced automated trading. "The updated Fed policy, combined with comments made in the press conference 30 minutes later, will shape how fund managers view commodity supply and demand data going forward, while also monitoring ongoing Covid-related lockdowns in China, red-hot inflation and an intensifying war in Ukraine," said Mr. Suderman.

Slowdown in Appetite: No purchasing of export soybeans were reported by the USDA, which was one main reason that soybeans lead the CBOT lower. "The Chinese were already on holiday last Friday, at least in their own minds, and did nothing on the buying front," said Charlie Sernatinger of ED&F Man Capital in a note. Also pulling soybeans down was steep selling of soyoil futures, with the CBOT most-active contract closing down 4.9% to just over 80 cents per pound - down from an all-time record of 87 cents per pound last week.


INSIGHTS


Lagging Pace: Planting in the US is expected to stay behind the normal pace for this time of year in Monday afternoon's USDA report - possibly catching up this week if weather stays supportive. "[It's] hard to see too much field work having been done in the past seven days, with pace remaining well behind," said Richard Buttenshaw of Marex in a note. Last week, the USDA forecast that farmers have planted 7% of expected corn acres through April 25, off from 16% at this time last year. Meanwhile, only 3% of soybeans were planted, versus 7% last year - and spring wheat was 13% planted versus 27% last year.

Steady Inspections: Export inspections for U.S. grains stayed relatively unchanged from last week, according to USDA data. In its latest grain export inspections report, the USDA said that corn inspections totaled 1.68 million metric tons for the week ended April 28. That's up slightly from 1.67 million tons last week. Meanwhile, U.S. soybean inspections totaled 601,282 tons for the week, up from 605,385 tons the previous week - and wheat inspections totaled 384,460 tons, up from 289,607 tons last week. China was a leading destination for corn and soybeans this week, while Mexico was the top destination for wheat. Other big destinations for U.S. grains include Colombia and Japan.


AHEAD:


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

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

-Ingredion Inc. will release its first-quarter earnings report at 7 a.m. ET Thursday.

-Zoetis Inc. will release its first-quarter earnings report before the stock market opens Thursday.

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


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-02-22 1523ET