By Kirk Maltais


-Wheat for July delivery fell 0.9% to $6.43 1/2 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday, with short-covering supporting grains yesterday drying up as wheat planting in the U.S. accelerates.

-Corn for July delivery fell 0.4% to $4.67 1/2 a bushel.

-Soybeans for July delivery fell 0.3% to $12.45 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Pedal to the Metal: Wheat led the CBOT lower Tuesday, after the USDA's latest Crop Progress report showed spring wheat planting well ahead of its usual pace. The USDA said the spring wheat crop is 47% complete, which is up from 21% at this point last year, as well as the 5-year pace of 31%. For wheat, traders also took cues from overseas. "Weather concerns that range from frost to overly wet conditions in some areas of Europe and overly dry conditions in the Black Sea region continue to drive wheat prices higher," said Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing in a note.

Stalled Out: Short-covering seen at the start of the day quickly faded, with traders unwilling to keep boosting prices and farmers hoping to lock in profits for their crops. "Unlike the previous session, the fund demand has been not as strong and values are slipping," said Brian Hoops of Midwest Market Solutions. "Farmer selling has been very heavy, especially of old crop soybeans and corn."


INSIGHT


Compare and Contrast: Traders are keen to compare the USDA outlook on Brazilian crops in the upcoming WASDE with the Brazilian Conab report. "What prices do will likely be determined by the South American crop size, Chinese demand [and] the U.S. planted acreage and yield," said Tomm Pftizenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage in a note. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal forecast a slide in the Brazilian corn and soybean crop, with corn dropping 1.5 million metric tons to 122.5 million tons and soybeans falling 2.4 million tons to 152.6 million tons.

On the Homefront: Friday's WASDE report is expected to show higher U.S. soybean production than initially expected, according to analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. They say that soybean production is expected to rise to 4.43 billion bushels in the 2024/25 marketing year--up from 4.17 billion bushels forecast last month. Corn production, meanwhile, is expected to slide by 400 million bushels--to 14.9 billion bushels, down from 15.34 billion bushels forecast last month.


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 World Supply and Demand Estimates report at noon 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

05-07-24 1533ET