By Kirk Maltais


--Wheat for September delivery rose 2.1% to $5.41 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday, amid the growing sentiment that U.S. wheat may capitalize on weaker prices and pent-up demand.

--Corn for September delivery rose 0.9% to $4.12 1/2 a bushel.

--Soybeans for November delivery fell 0.1% to $10.42 1/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Assist From Dollar: A weaker U.S. dollar today helped support CBOT grains, particularly wheat, with traders anticipating that cheaper prices along with reports of Russian export difficulties will support improved export sales. "We have had such a large downside move in wheat and hit multi-year lows and I think we are seeing some consolidation," said Donna Hughes of StoneX. "Aside from that, the export market has picked up with the move lower and that helps to support as well as the lower dollar." Corn largely followed wheat's momentum today, Hughes said.

Nearing Record: Average daily production of ethanol in the U.S. surged from the previous week, climbing close to record levels. In its weekly report, the EIA said that average daily production for the week that ended July 12 was 1.106 million barrels a day. That's up 52,000 barrels a day from the previous week's outlook, and brings average ethanol production to its highest level since December 2023. It's also just 2,000 barrels a day off from the record set in 2017. Ethanol inventories fell for the week by approximately 440,000 barrels to 23.16 million barrels. That's on the low end of estimates by analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this week.

Switching Lanes: While traders and analysts mostly view CBOT grains as over sold, the market seems to be in little hurry to reverse its course from multi-year lows. "The downward spiral in which funds are accumulating record [short] positions has come to a halt, but the momentum has not been completely reversed," AgriTel said in a note. Storm damage from derechos in the Midwest have impacted U.S. crop health, although the extent of the damage is unknown.


INSIGHT


No Fundamental Change: Rallies in wheat and corn are seen as temporary, as weather in the U.S. Corn Belt continues to be generally optimal for growing crops, said Brian Hoops of Midwest Market Solutions. "Weather conditions remain favorable and the U.S. farmer has a lot of bushels to sell, which will serve to cap rallies in the grains," Hoops said. The Corn Belt is seeing almost perfect development conditions for corn and soybean, the USDA said in its daily weather report.


AHEAD


AHEAD:

--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

07-17-24 1546ET