By Kirk Maltais

 

--Wheat for March delivery fell 3.4% to $5.96 1/2 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday, correcting from the past three days of upticks as rain hit growing areas in the U.S. Midwest.

--Corn for March delivery fell 1.2% to $4.27 1/2 a bushel.

--Soybeans for January delivery fell 0.6% to $11.84 a bushel.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

Storm System: Rainfall in the U.S. Plains applied pressure on U.S. wheat futures Wednesday."Good rain fell across the US soft red wheat production areas and advancement of the Australian wheat harvest weighed on prices," said Terry Reilly of Futures International. Moderate showers are seen in the Midwest today, followed by dryness in the eastern portion of the Midwest over the weekend, according to agricultural weather firm DTN.

Soaring Ethanol Stocks: Corn futures on the CBOT caught some pressure as inventories of ethanol in the U.S. shot up this week, rising to their highest level since late August, according to EIA data. Ethanol inventories shot up 663,000 barrels to 20.87 million barrels, the EIA said -- far more than previously expected by analysts amid a resurgent coronavirus that is again taking people off of the road. Meanwhile, ethanol production also rose, climbing 28,000 barrels per day to 990,000 barrels per day -- their highest since late March, when the first wave of the pandemic sent ethanol plants into shutdowns.

 

INSIGHTS

 

Cancellation Watch: Grains traders are watching for official announcements that may confirm if China has cancelled some of its soybean purchases already announced by the USDA. A story published by Reuters this morning says that Chinese buyers are looking to cancel orders due to processing margins for soybeans shrinking amid high prices for U.S. soybeans, which has U.S. grains traders nervous. "The... stories about potential cancellations is a concern with the saying, 'where there's smoke, there's fire' coming to mind," said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives. Traders will look to Friday's export sales report to see if that shows any cancellations.

Losing Steam: Exports for soybeans and soybean products this week are expected to fall from the previous week, grain traders tell The Wall Street Journal. Traders are forecasting soybean exports to hit anywhere from 800,000 metric tons to 1.4 million tons. Unless exports hit the high end of trader forecasts, then exports would be below the previous weeks' total of 1.39 million tons. Meanwhile, traders are forecasting soybean oil exports to be anywhere from 5,000 to 30,000 tons, which is down from last week's total of 45,100 tons. Soybean oil futures rose 0.4% Wednesday, keeping them at their highest level in four years at $37.86 per pound.

 

AHEAD:

 

--The Chicago Board of Trade will be closed in observance of Thanksgiving on Thursday. It will close early on Friday, reopening at its regular schedule next week.

--The USDA will release its latest weekly export sales numbers at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday.

--Grains and livestock trading on the Chicago Board of Trade will close at 1:05 p.m. ET Friday.

--The USDA releases its weekly grain export inspections data at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

--The USDA releases its monthly agricultural prices report at 3 p.m. ET Monday.

--The USDA releases its weekly crop progress report for the 2020/21 crop at 4 p.m. ET Monday.

 

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

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 25, 2020 15:21 ET (20:21 GMT)

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