By Paulo Trevisani


-- Wheat for July delivery rose 4.2% to $6.48 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday, leading a broader rally in grain futures.

-- Soybeans for July delivery rose 2.8% to $12.48 3/4 a bushel.

-- Corn for July delivery rose 1.9% to $4.69 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Flooding Fields: U.S. grain futures rebounded from early losses due, in part, to heavy rains in Brazil's southernmost growing region. Traders were watching for the USDA's data on crop progress due out later today, while the WASDE report is due out on Friday. AgResource estimates that U.S. farmers have been able to seed 36% to 37% of their corn and 27% to 28% of their soybean crops through Sunday, just slightly below the five-year average, according to the firm.

Fewer Inspections: U.S. export inspections of wheat and corn declined last week, the USDA said in its latest weekly report. Wheat inspections totaled 321 million metric tons, down from an upwardly revised 503 million tons. Corn inspections declined to 1.29 million tons from a revised 1.30 million tons. Soybeans inspections increased to 349 million tons from a revised 276 million tons.


INSIGHT


Blaming Funds: Losses in Brazilian crops due to heavy rain last week alone aren't enough to explain the rally in soybeans futures, StoneX's Arlan Suderman said in a note. Corn and wheat prices also went up, but that can't be explained by potential production problems in Argentina and Russia, which have been known for a while, he said. "Rather, this continues to be about fund managers abandoning their 'commodity deflation' mode that they've held for the past two years," Suderman said.

Washed Away: Potential losses in Brazil's soybean crop due to heavy rain in the country's southern tip could represent around 15% of the production in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, RCM's Doug Bergman said in a report. He estimated around 3 million metric tons of soybean production in the affected area and noted that the USDA currently estimates the total Brazilian crop at 155 million tons.


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 Paulo Trevisani at paulo.trevisani@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-06-24 1537ET