By Kirk Maltais


-Soybeans for May delivery fell 1.1% to $11.44 3/4 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday, as traders digest a report suggesting that China - the biggest export customer of the U.S. - will need less foreign imports.

-Wheat for May delivery fell 0.2% to $5.50 1/2 a bushel.

-Corn for May delivery fell 0.1% to $4.31 1/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Closer to Home: China's hunger for soybean imports is being questioned by analysts and pressured soybean futures. China's focus on improving its own domestic production is impacting its need to import soybeans, said Commerzbank in a note, citing a Bloomberg article reporting that China intends to enforce required usage of domestic soybeans by the country's crushing facilities. "The upside potential for the soybean price is therefore likely to remain limited for the time being," said Commerzbank.

Bird's Eye View: Grain analysts are shifting from crop-centric worries back to the military strife in the Middle East and its effect on major commodities like crude oil, as well as the changing sentiment around how long high interest rates will be locked in. "Macroeconomic trends have become more important to CBOT grain valuations," AgResource said in a note. "The strong U.S. economy and rising interest rates have rallied the U.S. dollar."


INSIGHT


Planting Progresses: The USDA confirmed yesterday in its latest Crop Progress report that U.S. corn planting is 6% complete, up one point from the 5-year average. Soybean planting is 3% complete, up from the 5-year average of 1%--while spring wheat planting completions total 7%, up one point from the 5-year average and 5 points from this time last year. "These figures were in line with traders' expectations," says AgriTel in a note. The question of how weather acts as farmers attempt to get into their fields to plant have been a driving force in futures movement.

Rally Potential: A turnaround in prices are expected to come this summer, when crops are susceptible to high heat and low moisture as they progress through key stages of growth. With risk premium seemingly not factored into current grain prices, now is a good time for traders to buy back into futures, said Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing in a note. Risk premium is typically factored-in by traders during the summer months to compensate for the possibility of weather-related crop failures.


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

04-16-24 1515ET