By Kirk Maltais

--Soybeans for July delivery rose 1.3% to $14.15 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Monday as China bought more U.S. soybeans.

--Corn for July delivery rose 0.6% to 6.59 1/4 a bushel.

--Wheat for July delivery fell 0.2% to $6.61 1/2 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Back to Buying: After a prolonged absence from buying U.S. soybean exports, China returned, with the USDA confirming China purchased 336,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery in the 2021/22 marketing year--with another 120,000 tons sold to unknown destinations. "Beans were down hard overnight, but better crush margins in China unleashed some pricing, and the market came back during the day session," said Charlie Sernatinger of ED&F Man Capital.

Show of Support: Weakness seen in the U.S. dollar provided support for grains futures amid signs of a resurgence in export demand. The WSJ dollar index fell 0.4% Monday, this after a steady run-up over the past week. "The selling wave in commodities has evidently taken a breather today thanks in part to the weakness in the U.S. Dollar," said independent trader Dan Norcini. A weaker dollar makes U.S. exports more attractive to buyers, which combined with news of new Chinese buying, helped spark strength.

Perception Matters: A change in thinking regarding forward-looking weather forecasts helped boost grain futures Monday. "The market is moving on market perceptions of weather impact," said Arlan Suderman of StoneX. "Everything must go near perfect from this point forward, and that's not currently in the forecast for the western Midwest." Soil moisture continues to be dry in the Northern Plains, even with rainfall over the weekend.

INSIGHTS

Issue of Quality: This afternoon's crop progress report from the USDA is expected to show some reduction to the crop quality of U.S. row crop. But the question remains as to how much that quality has declined, especially considering the rainfall seen last week and over the weekend. "Crop progress this afternoon is expected to show modest declines in corn/bean ratings with stress in the middle of last week offset by weekend rains," said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives. Uncertain weather has sent CBOT futures on a volatile course, he added.

Corn Pops: Export inspections of U.S. corn destined for China rose in the past week, the USDA reported Monday. In its latest grain export inspections report, the USDA said that China was the destination for 794,475 metric tons of corn for the week ended June 17, up from last week. In total, inspections of U.S. corn totaled 1.48 million tons, which is down from last week's report.

AHEAD:

--The USDA will release its monthly cold storage report at 3 p.m. ET 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.

--The USDA will release its monthly livestock report at 3 p.m. ET Thursday.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-21-21 1545ET