* Soy, corn up 0.8 pct, wheat gains
1.3 pct
* U.S. weekly soybean exports rise
despite rally
* Dryness in Australia threatens wheat
crop
* Rains seen helping Argentine corn
crop -exchange (Adds details, quotes)
By Naveen Thukral
SINGAPORE, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Chicago
soybeans bounced back on Friday and were on track for their biggest weekly gain
in a month, supported by higher-than-expected U.S. exports which showed a
drought-fed rally has done little to temper demand.
Wheat firmed amid forecasts of below
average rains in Australia, the world's second largest exporter, while new-corn
rose after suffering its biggest one-day decline in two months on Thursday.
"Export sales of soybeans were
pretty good which are supportive for the market," said one Melbourne-based
analyst. "Soybeans are bit under valued at the moment when you look at the
bean market in relation to corn."
A crop tour continued to give evidence
of the devastation caused by the U.S. grain belt's worst drought in half a
century which has lifted corn and soybean prices to all-time highs in recent
weeks.
Corn and soy fields in Iowa, the No.1
growing state for both crops, have fallen victim to the historic drought and is
expected to drag national yields below the government's latest projections,
according to the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour.
In its latest findings, the annual
tour projected Iowa's corn yield at 137.3 bushels per acre, down sharply from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture's estimate of 141 bushels.
It pegged the state's average soybean
pod count at 999.8 pods in a three-foot square, below the tour's three-year
average of 1,255.5 pods. The USDA does not estimate soybean pod counts.
Soybeans were underpinned by solid
export numbers in the U.S. government's weekly report on Thursday. Soybean
export sales last week totaled 718,700 tonnes, above the high end of estimates
for 650,000 tonnes. The market has been expecting high soybean prices to weaken
export demand.
Chicago Board of Trade new-crop
November soybeans have risen 5 percent this week, a fourth consecutive week of
gains. December corn, which slid the most since June 21 on Thursday, is up
about 1.8 percent this week, while wheat has risen 1.3 percent.
On Friday, November soybeans rose 0.8
percent to $17.29-1/4 a bushel by 0433 GMT and December corn added 0.8 percent
to $8.21-1/2 a bushel. December wheat gained 1.3 percent to $9.06 a bushel.
The wheat market is being aided by
dryness in Australia.
"There is forecast of rain this
week in eastern Australia but not enough to meet the average rainfall
required," the Melbourne analyst said. "Western Australia continues
to be dry."
Dry weather across Western Australia,
the largest wheat producing state in the country, has triggered a series of downgrades
in forecasts for yield projections.
Still, Australia's weather bureau sees
a 70 percent chance the West Australian grain belt will receive above average
rains in the next two months, as an analyst warned that up to 40 percent of the
crop could be lost if dry conditions persist.
In Argentina, heavy rains have improved
prospects for the upcoming corn season, following a 2011/12 crop reduced by drought,
the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said in its weekly report. Corn planting is
about to start in Argentina, the world's No. 2 exporter after the United
States.
Prices at 0433 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct chg MA 30 RSI
CBOT wheat 906.00 11.25 +1.26% 874.61 52
CBOT corn 821.50 6.75 +0.83% 769.29 55
CBOT soy 1729.25 14.25 +0.83% 1588.18 64
CBOT rice $15.54 $0.12 +0.78% $15.49 49
WTI crude $95.79 -$0.48 -0.50% $89.17 60
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.256 $0.026 +2.16%
USD/AUD 1.043 -0.013 -1.19%
Most active contracts
Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight
RSI 14, exponential
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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