By Kirk Maltais


-- Wheat for July delivery fell 5.7% to $9.75 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Monday, falling under $10 per bushel amid better-than-expected weather over the long weekend.

-- Corn for July delivery fell 3% to $7.60 3/4 a bushel.

-- Soybeans for July delivery fell 1.2% to $16.81 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Big Retreat: Wheat futures closed below the $10-per-bushel mark, the first time since April 1 that the contract finished that low. Outlooks for European and U.S. weather patterns containing more precipitation than initially expected pressured the contract.

"U.S. wheat futures are lower on improving Western European weather, prospects for a large Russian grain crop and U.S. harvesting pressure," said Terry Reilly of Futures International in a note.


Selling the Fact: Milder-than-expected weather also had traders contemplating overall grain positions.

"Traders went into the weekend thinking that this week would be hot and dry, but a little rain entered the forecasts over the weekend and there are plenty of agronomists who believe that the heat in the early development of the crop would be a good thing, so last week may have been a 'buy the rumor' week with this week starting out 'selling the fact'," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage in a note.


Bouncing Off the Floor: Soybeans didn't drop as much as corn and wheat Tuesday, finding some support from Asian palm- oil prices turning higher after last week's slide.

"Malaysian palm oil a year ago this week scored annual lows, and the question is whether a similar price trend holds in 2022," said AgResource in a note, adding that end users may be taking the opportunity to buy positions in global vegetable-oil futures.


INSIGHTS


Inspections Slide: Grain export inspections are lower across the board versus the previous week, according to USDA data.

The government said corn export inspections for the week ended June 16 totaled 1.18 million metric tons, versus 1.22 million tons at this time last week. Soybean inspections totaled 427,344 tons versus 608,116 tons last week, and wheat inspections tallied 331,328 tons versus 411,916 tons last week.

China was the leading destination for U.S. corn for the week, totaling 338,641 tons. The Philippines was the lead destination for U.S. wheat at 121,166 tons, and Egypt was the leading destination for U.S. soybeans at 105,220 tons.


Hurdles Stack Higher: The conflict in Ukraine has introduced a host of logistical issues that are making any sort of export program difficult to achieve while fighting continues, said Dr. John Rich, executive chairman of Ukrainian-based grain and poultry producer MHP SE.

Rail and truck shipments are currently the primary means for the company to ship its grains, Dr. Rich told the WSJ, with any vessels being loaded with grain subject to much more stringent conditions. As a result, the amount of grain being stored looks to swell, with Dr. Rich projecting the total to surge to roughly 60 million to 70 million metric tons once the spring crop is harvested.

Temporary storage has been constructed to account for the increase, but storage looks non-existent for next year's crop unless ports reopen, Dr. Rich said.


Large Longs: Fund traders are holding large long positions in corn and soybeans as of the CFTC's latest commitments of traders report. Managed money funds hold a long position of over 278,000 contracts in corn and over 163,000 contracts in soybeans.

The big positions in these grains are more than expected, said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives in a note, but leave grain futures exposed to pressure outside of any change to fundamentals.

"There is still a large amount of speculative money in the grain markets that if they decide it's time to head to the exits, can put pressure on prices regardless of what the production outlook is," said Mr. Bergman.


AHEAD


-- The EIA is scheduled to release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. EDT Thursday.

-- The USDA is due to release its monthly Cold Storage Report at 3 p.m. EDT Thursday.

-- The USDA is scheduled to release its monthly livestock slaughter report at 3 p.m. EDT Thursday.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-21-22 1554ET