By Kirk Maltais


-- Corn for December delivery fell 0.4% to $5.65 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday, with traders taking a more cautious approach after Monday's big moves higher.

-- Soybeans for November delivery fell 0.4% to $14.19 a bushel.

-- Wheat for September delivery rose 0.4% at $7.61 1/2 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Proceeding With Caution: Traders maintained a hands-off approach toward holding futures Tuesday as developments in the Russia-Ukraine war and touchy weather in U.S. growing areas made the trend murky.

"The wide daily price ranges and uncertainty surrounding headline risk has traders cutting position size," said AgResource in a note. This volatility is expected to continue through the rest of the summer, the firm said.


Striking a Balance: Grain futures balanced out Monday's strong surge following increased Russian aggression.

"Markets are giving back a portion of the gains to start the week as it looks like enough shorts were squeezed out of the wheat market to allow it to set back for the time being," said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives in a note.

Even so, wheat futures ultimately turned higher to close the day.


INSIGHT


Wet Spot: Russia's wheat harvest is lagging this year, said SovEcon in a note, citing unfavorable weather conditions in the country's growing areas. The firm reports that only 14% of Russia's harvest has been completed as of July 20, which is the lowest for this time of year and down from 22% at this time last year.

Russia's weather has been far too wet, said SovEcon, which has hampered harvest progress, which in turn may drive export prices higher.


Stepping Back: Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal are forecasting ethanol production in the U.S. to pull back in the EIA's report this week. They are forecasting daily production to average anywhere from 1.05 million barrels to 1.06 million barrels a day through July 21, which would be down from 1.07 million barrels in last week's report.

Stockpiles, meanwhile, are expected to stay roughly close to the 23.17 million barrels tallied last week.

Ethanol is a key source of consumption of U.S. corn domestically. The USDA forecasts 5.3 billion bushels of corn being used for ethanol production this year.


AHEAD


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

-- The USDA is due to release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. EDT Thursday.

-- The USDA is scheduled to release its monthly agricultural prices report at 3 p.m. EDT Friday.

-- The CFTC is due to release its weekly Commitments of Traders Report at 3:30 p.m. EDT Friday.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-25-23 1537ET