Wheat Futures Lower as Traders Duck Out of Long Positions — Daily Grain Highlights

By Kirk Maltais

-Wheat for July delivery fell 2.7% to $5.86 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Wednesday, with fund traders shedding long positions as weather looks supportive for early spring crops.

-Corn for July delivery fell 2.2% to $4.30 3/4 a bushel

-Soybeans for July delivery fell 1% to $11.53 1/2 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Moving Out: Managed money funds continued to cover their long positions in today's trading. "Stale longs continue to be liquidated," AgResource said in a note. Strong production out of South America is another pressure point for agricultural futures, as is "non-threatening" weather in U.S. growing areas. Last week's Commitments of Traders report from the CFTC showed that even with funds closing tens of thousands of long contracts in grain futures, they remain net long in them.

Fundamental Side: Traders are refocusing on seasonal happenings, including the amount of rainfall being received in growing areas. "The grains and oilseeds remain under fundamental pressure thanks to a mostly solid start to the 2026 growing season, and widespread rains on the way over the next week or so," said Matt Zeller of StoneX in a note.

High Level: Comments from a U.S. government official regarding China's purchases of U.S. soybeans gave the oilseeds some support today. Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden said during the WSJ Global Food Forum that he expects China to honor its pledge to buy more American soybeans this year, and that China is in the process of making new purchases. But the U.S. grain market won't be convinced until the USDA's weekly export sales reports start to show China making sizable purchases, said Jim Wiesemeyer of Ag Bull Trading.

INSIGHT

Decreasing Connection: Crude oil prices moved back towards the $100 mark after Iran the U.S. once again exchanged fire, seemingly moving the timeline back for reaching a peace deal and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Higher crude oil had been a catalyst for rising grain futures, due to grains' usage in renewable fuels, although grains don't seem to be getting as much of a boost from higher oil as they had in previous months. "A rallying crude oil market hasn't stopped the bleeding on our commodity markets," said Matt Bennett of AgMarket.net in a note.

Making More: Daily production of ethanol by U.S. refineries for the week ended May 29 grew from the prior week, the EIA said. Average daily ethanol production was reported at 1.108 million barrels a day, up 19,000 barrels a day from the previous week, and on the high end of estimates from analysts surveyed by Dow Jones, who forecast production between 1.056 million barrels and 1.12 million barrels. Inventories fell from the prior week. Ethanol stocks decreased by 362,000 barrels, to 24.61 million barrels. That lands within the estimates of surveyed analysts for the week.

AHEAD

-The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

-The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.

-The USDA will release its weekly Grain Export Inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

-The USDA will release its weekly Crop Progress report at 4 p.m. ET Monday.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 03, 2026 15:26 ET (19:26 GMT)