By Kirk Maltais


--Wheat for March delivery rose 1.5% to $6.30 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday, with short-covering extending after China bought more U.S. wheat exports.

--Corn for March delivery rose 1% to $4.90 1/4 a bushel.

--Soybeans for January delivery rose 0.2% to $13.08 1/2 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Hungry For More: The USDA said China bought 198,000 metric tons of soft red winter wheat for delivery in the 2023/24 marketing year. That follows yesterday's confirmation of 440,000 tons of the same kind of wheat being sold to Beijing, and provides support for the steady pattern of short-covering seen in trading throughout the day.

Planning Ahead: Grain traders sharpened their focus in Tuesday's session on the USDA's WASDE report due on Friday. While the data isn't expected to fundamentally alter the supply-demand picture, there are some smaller improvements that the updated report may register. "Trade will be looking for any increases in corn demand for ethanol and potentially an uptick in wheat export demand thanks to yesterday's big purchase from China," Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing said in a note.


INSIGHT


Minor Adjustments: Analysts are forecasting the USDA to project only minor changes to grain stockpiles in the December WASDE report, according to a survey done by The Wall Street Journal. Corn stocks are forecast to rise 1 million bushels to 2.16 billion bushels in the 2023/24 marketing year, while soybean stocks are expected to drop 3 million bushels to 242 million bushels. Wheat stocks are expected to be unchanged at 684 million bushels. On the world stage, international supplies are expected to be slightly lower in 2023/24 as well, with corn and soybeans seen dropping while wheat stock forecasts are expected to nominally increase.

Moving Less Volume: Exports of wheat out of Russia fell in November and were the lowest for this marketing year, SovEcon said in a note. Russian wheat exports totaled 3.4 million metric tons for the month, down from 4.3 million tons at this time last year, according to the research firm. Conditions in the Black Sea described as "adverse" are underpinning the slowdown in exports, SovEcon said. "Exporter activity last week declined sharply due to stormy weather in the Black Sea," the firm says. "Loading ships was impossible, with waves reaching up to 8 meters [26 feet]."

Cost Reward Ratio: Sentiment among U.S. farmers improved in the past month ahead of the start of the next planting season in April, Purdue University and the CME Group said in a survey released today. "Farmers' expectations regarding financial performance have improved, with fewer producers expecting worse performance than a year ago," said James Mintert of Purdue University's Center for Commercial Agriculture. Risk factors such as higher input costs continue to affect farmer sentiment, but are less of a concern than earlier this year, according to those surveyed.


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 report at noon 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

12-05-23 1550ET