By Kirk Maltais
--Wheat for July delivery rose 2.1% to $10.95 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday, in response to data showing slowed-down spring planting as cold temperatures hit the Northern Plains.
--Corn for July delivery rose 0.4% to $8.01 1/2 a bushel.
--Soybeans for July delivery fell 0.2% to $16.71 3/4 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Lagging Progress: CBOT grain futures were largely driven by Monday's Crop Progress report from the USDA--which showed crop planting is still behind the usual pace. The government reported that only 7% of U.S. corn has been planted, only 3% of soybeans, and only 13% of spring wheat. All of these percentages are well behind last year. "Given the global tight balance sheets the U.S. needs to have a good crop and delayed plantings are not the way to start," said Richard Buttenshaw of Marex in a note.
Cold Blast: Cold temperatures, leading to blizzard conditions in the Northern Plains, is a factor seen exacerbating slow spring wheat planting. Blizzard conditions hit the Dakotas and Minnesota earlier this week, and more is on the way. "Wheat markets were higher...as another blizzard is forecast for this week in Spring Wheat growing areas," said Jack Scoville of Price Futures Group in a note. Rainfall is expected to arrive in other areas of the U.S. Corn Belt in the latter half of the week, according to DTN.
Outside Indicators: Algo traders were largely sellers of grains earlier Tuesday, but that tide reversed midday--amid a surge in oil futures. "The weakness of the macro-markets caused the algo funds to be grain sellers, which was quickly retraced as crude oil rallied and the Central U.S. weather forecast stayed cool and wet," said AgResource in a note. WTI light sweet crude oil futures closed up 3.2%, perking back up over $100 per barrel.
INSIGHTS
Bottom Line: Strong demand and a tight global crop supply propelled grain trader Archer Daniels Midland to about 53% higher profit in its first quarter. The Illinois company said it expects the reduced supply to continue for the next few years because of weak Canadian canola and South American crops and the disruptions in the Black Sea region that have cut off grain exports from Ukraine. ADM posted earnings of $1.86 a share compared with $1.22 a year ago.
Trending Lower: Both daily production and total inventories of U.S. ethanol are expected to mostly pull back in this week's report from the EIA, according to analysts surveyed by Dow Jones. They forecast daily production to be anywhere from 927,000 barrels a day to 980,000 barrels a day, versus 947,000 barrels a day last week. For inventories, stocks are seen totaling from 23.64M barrels to 24.54M barrels, versus 24.34 million barrels last week. Issues with rail transportation in the U.S. are seen as bogging down U.S. ethanol shipments--impacting both production and stocks.
AHEAD:
--Bunge Ltd. will release its first-quarter earnings before the stock market opens Wednesday.
--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.
--Pilgrims Pride Corp. will release its first-quarter earnings after the stock market closes Wednesday.
--Patrick Thomas contributed to this article.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-26-22 1522ET
