By Kirk Maltais


--Wheat for May delivery rose 1.3%, to $6.98 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday in response to signs Russia may try to put a price floor on its wheat exports.

--Soybeans for May delivery rose 0.9% to $14.42 1/4 a bushel.

--Corn for May delivery rose 0.7% to $6.48 1/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Wheat Wake-Up Call: Wheat futures rose on speculation that Russia sees current world prices as too cheap, including U.S. futures on the CBOT. "Ideas that big Russian offers and cheaper Russian prices would be a feature for a while in the world market was the driving force for the weaker prices, and price weakness could continue," The Price Futures Group's Jack Scoville said in a note. "Prices are now so cheap that Russia is reportedly thinking about increasing export tariffs or halting exports for a time to rally prices." Year to date, CBOT wheat futures have shed nearly 13%.

Settling Down: Commodity traders are keeping an eye on developments in the banking crisis. On Monday, First Citizens BancShares Inc. said it is buying large parts of the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank. "Wall Street continues to be very sensitive to signs of bank vulnerability in the current rising interest rate environment," Arlan Suderman of StoneX said in a note. "Those factors that impact money flow will always be a risk for the commodity markets in a world of algos and massive fund investment." Agricultural futures closed mostly higher Monday, while energy and metals futures finshed mixed.


INSIGHT


Window of Opportunity: The time has now passed for rainfall in Argentina to have any positive effect on the country's soybean crop, agricultural research firm DTN said in a note. "Better rainfall may have a stabilizing effect on damaged soybeans in Argentina this week, but is likely too late for most of the crop." Limited rainfall in Brazil is potentially an issue for the country's corn crop, but not yet, DTN said, and its effect on Argentina's corn crop is now minimal.

Big Report: Grain traders are cautious ahead of the USDA's Prospective Plantings report due on Friday. That creates the "potential for a quiet trade this week as positions are squared up ahead of the release," RCM Alternatives' Doug Bergman said in a note.

Agencies are now releasing their estimates with many calling for corn acreage to exceed 91 million acres, and with soybeans at roughly 88 million acres.


AHEAD


--Cal-Maine Foods Inc. will release its third-quarter earnings report on Tuesday.

--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 quarterly Hogs and Pigs report at 3 p.m. ET Thursday.


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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-27-23 1558ET