By Kirk Maltais


--Soybeans for May delivery fell 1%, to $14.92 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday, trading lower on uncertainty about what bank failures will mean for agricultural financing in addition to the wider economy.

--Corn for May delivery fell 0.7% to $6.13 1/2 a bushel.

--Wheat for May delivery rose 0.7% to $6.84 3/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Assessing the Fallout: Grain traders joined other investors in attempting to assess what the failures of SVB Financial Corp. and Signature Bank may mean for the macroeconomic picture going forward - and how that may extend into the agricultural sector. "The outside markets are trying to figure out the impact (if any) of the Silicon Valley Bank failure late last week with traders nervous about contagion and the potential for other bank failures," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage in a note.

Tentative Proposal: Short covering seen Friday extended into today's session, providing support for wheat today. "Selling in wheat has been excessive and all risk premium has been removed," said Karl Setzer of Mid Co. Commodities. Mr. Setzer tells the WSJ that a weaker U.S. dollar is also supporting wheat, as it makes agricultural exports more competitive with other global offerings. The Associated Press reported today that Russia has agreed to extend the Black Sea export deal for 60 more days - maintaining that the country is unsatisfied with portions of the deal.


INSIGHT


Turning the Corner: Today's export inspections report from the USDA gave grain traders some encouraging signs for momentum in export demand, said Arlan Suderman of StoneX in a note. "It's been a long time coming, but corn export demand is finally coming back," said Mr. Suderman. Despite the increase this week, corn inspections volume is still 37% behind last year's level.

On the Retreat: Prices per ton of fertilizer continue to fall, said DTN in its latest estimate. The firm says costs for the eight major types of fertilizer declined for the week ended March 3, and all of them are lower than they were a year ago. Natural gas prices have fallen over 70% in the past six months putting pressure on fertilizer prices. More-affordable fertilizer is a factor easing input costs for U.S. farmers ahead of the start of the planting season.


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 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

03-13-23 1526ET