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GRAINS-Soybeans rise as drought threaten Argentine crop; wheat dips

SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures rose on Wednesday, recouping some of last session's losses, as concerns over a lack of rains in top supplier Argentina supported prices.
Corn also ticked higher, while wheat prices eased.

FUNDAMENTALS
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 added 0.5% to $14.99-1/2 a bushel, as of 0115 GMT, corn Cv1 rose quarter of a cent to $6.70-3/4 a bushel and wheat Wv1 slid 0.3% to $7.73-1/4 a bushel.

The focus is on Argentina, the world's largest exporter of soyoil and soymeal, after better-than-expected rains benefited dry areas there over the weekend, analysts said.

However, the weather in the South American nation is expected to turn drier again. Crop stress in northern and eastern Argentina will rebuild to about 60% of the soybean and corn areas from just under half, Commodity Weather Group said.

The Buenos Aires grains exchange said last week that 500,000 hectares of soybeans may go unplanted if further rain prevents the progress of field work.

In the wheat market, winter storm damage to U.S. crops raised worries over 2023 supplies.

Sovecon, a leading Black Sea agricultural markets research firm, increased its 2022/23 Russian wheat export forecast by 0.2 million tonnes to 44.1 million tonnes on Friday.

The consultancy expects record or near-record monthly export volumes in the second half of the July-June season with shipments supported by relatively high global prices, the weakening of the rouble, and the pressure of record stocks on the domestic market.

In other news, weekly U.S. grain export inspections were disappointing, traders said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported inspections in the week ended Dec. 29 were 85,672 tonnes for wheat; 667,010 tonnes for corn; and 1.46 million tonnes for soybeans.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected 250,000 tonnes to 450,000 tonnes for wheat; 650,000 tonnes to 900,000 tonnes for corn; and 1.5 million to 1.865 million tonnes for soybeans.

Large speculators raised their net long position in Chicago Board of Trade corn futures in the week to Dec. 27, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and raised their net long position in soybeans.

MARKET NEWS
The dollar jumped on Tuesday as oil prices sank, while U.S. stocks bucked a global equities rally in a macro-packed week that could offer a steer on when and where U.S. interest rates might peak.
By: via Malaysian Palm Oil Council Russia