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GRAINS-Soybeans set for first weekly gain since August after US harvest downgrade

CANBERRA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures edged lower on Friday but were set for their first weekly gain since August after the U.S. government lowered its U.S. production forecast further than analysts had expected.

Corn and wheat also dipped. Both were set to end the week little changed.

FUNDAMENTALS
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 was down 0.2% at $12.87-1/4 a bushel by 0108 GMT, but up 1.7% from last Friday's close.

Corn Cv1 fell 0.2% to $4.95 a bushel and wheat Wv1 was 0.1% lower at $5.71 a bushel.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a monthly report on Thursday forecast the U.S. soybean harvest at 4.104 billion bushels, 42 million fewer bushels than predicted in September and 30 million bushels below an average of analysts' estimates.

The USDA also projected smaller soybean yields and soybean ending stocks holding steady at the September level.

For corn, the USDA predicted a harvest of 15.064 billion bushels, 37 million bushels beneath analysts' expectations.
U.S. soybean and corn crops were hit by hot and dry weather during critical parts of the growing season.

Separately, the USDA reported that exporters sold 295,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans to unknown buyers and 124,545 metric tons of U.S. corn to Guatemala.

Plentiful soy and corn supply from Brazil, which has seen record harvests, pushed CBOT soybeans to $12.51 a bushel earlier this week, the lowest since December 2021, and CBOT corn to a 33-month low of $4.68 a bushel last month.

In Europe, consultancy Strategie Grains raised its forecast for this year's European Union wheat harvest by 0.6 million metric tons to 125.6 million tons and for its maize (corn) harvest by 1 million metric tons to 60.6 million tons.

China's agriculture ministry lifted its forecast for the upcoming corn crop by 1.15% to a record 288 million metric tons.

In Argentina, the Rosario grains exchange lowered its wheat harvest forecast and raised its soybean harvest estimate.

The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange also downgraded its forecast for Argentina's wheat crop during the 2023/2024 harvesting season by 0.3 million metric tons to 16.2 million tons.

England's wheat harvest this year is provisionally estimated at 12.81 million metric tons, down 10% from the previous season, the British government said.

CBOT wheat fell to a three-year low of $5.40 a bushel last month due to a flood of cheap exports from Russia.

Egypt's state grains buyer said on Thursday it bought 470,000 metric tons of wheat in an international tender, of which 300,000 tons was Russian. The lowest free-on-board offer was $259 per metric ton, traders said.

The USDA in its report forecast U.S. wheat ending stocks at 670 million bushels, 33 million bushels above the average of analysts' estimates.

A Russian drone strike hit a grain storage facility in the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa overnight, and some grain was damaged, a military spokesperson said.

Commodity funds were net buyers of Chicago soybeans, soymeal, soyoil, corn and wheat on Thursday, traders said.

MARKETS NEWS
U.S. Treasury yields rose and the dollar strengthened while global stock markets fell on Thursday after data showed U.S. consumer prices increased more than expected in September.
By: via Malaysian Palm Oil Council Russia