By Kirk Maltais 
 

-- Wheat contracts for March delivery rose 0.7% to $5.21 1/4 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday, driven by speculation that Russia may place limits on their wheat exports.

-- Soybean contracts for March delivery fell 0.8% to $9.09 1/4 a bushel.

-- March corn contracts fell by 0.7% to $3.79 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Possible Russian Tightness Drives Wheat: The grains market devoted attention today to reports that old crop wheat supplies from the Black Sea are nearly used up, which is causing exporters like Russia to take measures to slow the flow of wheat out of the country, according to reports from Russian state media. However, due to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, no confirmation is available whether cheaper U.S. wheat has been purchased by foreign buyers.

USDA Export Report Present Good News for China: This week's export inspection reported issued by the USDA - one of the only reports still produced while the now 5-week-old government shutdown is active - says that of the 40.8 million bushels of soybeans inspected by the USDA last week, 15.3 million were destined for the Chinese mainland. According to Terry Reilly of Futures International, this week's report is bullish for soybeans futures.

INSIGHT

Bunge Names Acting CEO: Bunge Ltd. named Gregory Heckman as new acting chief executive and said three directors would step down, also warning of lower-than-anticipated profits. The managerial changes come as Bunge struggles to deliver its targeted profits despite growing grain exports in South America, where the company runs an extensive network of crop shipping and processing facilities.

Slowdown in Chinese GDP Growth Spooks Equities: The equity markets fell today, with traders selling due to a slowdown in Chinese GDP growth forcing them to confront the possibility that some economies globally are slowing faster than expected by experts -- a bearish sentiment weighing down the market.

AHEAD

--U.S. jobless claims data is being released Thursday, providing important data to judge U.S. economic health.

--EIA ethanol production data will also be released Thursday. The data is closely watched by corn growers, who sell to ethanol producers.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 22, 2019 16:12 ET (21:12 GMT)