By Kirk Maltais


--Wheat for May delivery rose 0.9% to $7.02 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Wednesday due to uncertainty about discussions between Russia and Ukraine, and mounting pressure from an emerging banking crisis.

--Corn for May delivery rose 0.9% to $6.26 1/2 a bushel.

--Soybeans for May delivery fell 0.3% to $14.89 1/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Not a Sure Thing: While it appears that the Black Sea Grains Initiative will move forward in some capacity, Russia and Ukraine disagree about how long the terms of the next deal extension should remain in place. Russia wants the deal to remain active for only 60 days, while Ukraine is holding to 120 days, the length of the current renewal. "Russia will allow the corridor to remain open during the negotiation period, but the trade would like to see some resolution," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage in a note.

Positive Direction: The USDA has confirmed another huge sale of corn exports to China, with 667,000 metric tons sold for delivery in the 2022/23 marketing year. With 612,000 tons snapped up by China Tuesday, this makes it 1.28 million tons of confirmed sales in the past two days alone. The news supported corn futures, even with the expanding banking crisis causing many traders to pull money out of commodities.


INSIGHT


Here at Home: Supplies are tightening for old-crop soybeans and corn, with basis prices paid for bushels by grain elevators and other domestic buyers mostly higher-than-usual for this time of year, according to data from StoneX. That's thanks to slow farmer selling, said Steve Freed of ADM Investor Services in a note. However, the unfolding banking crisis has diverted the attention of traders. "As of now, large managed funds do not care about tight supplies and higher basis," said Mr. Freed.

Falling Off: This week's export sales report from the USDA is anticipated to show a significant falloff in sales of U.S. soybean exports, according to grain traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. Traders forecast soybean exports to be as low as 125,000 metric tons across both marketing years versus last week's figure of 149,100 tons. However, corn exports are expected to stay strong this week, with traders forecasting a potential high of 1.6 million tons.


AHEAD


--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

03-15-23 1613ET