GRAINS — Soybeans at 7 — week low as US harvest overshadows Chinese demand

(Updates with European trading, changes dateline) PARIS/BEIJING, Oct 15 (Reuters) — Chicago soybean futures extended a decline on Thursday to touch a seven-week low as progress in harvesting what is forecast to be a record US crop offset support from renewed Chinese demand, analysts said. Corn and wheat were little changed, holding near two-month lows, as traders assessed US corn harvest prospects and the latest attacks on Black Sea shipping. The most-traded soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 0.18% at $12.75 a bushel by 1116 GMT, falling for a fourth straight session. The benchmark earlier fell to $12.67-3/4, its weakest level since August 27.

Chinese government buyers booked 8 to 10 cargoes of US soybeans on Tuesday for shipment in December and beyond, traders told Reuters. The USDA confirmed private sales of 470,000 metric tons to China in a daily export sales announcement on Wednesday. "The confirmation by the USDA of a purchase... by China was not enough to keep the soybean (price) in the green," Argus analysts said.

Expectations for Chinese purchases have been tempered by the absence of a tariff reduction for US supplies after a September bilateral summit, and given sluggish overall Chinese demand. Chinese soybean imports fell 7.7% in September year-on-year. China's soybean crushing sector faces significant overcapacity, Lv Xiuping, a Communist Party committee member and chief accountant at state-run COFCO Oils & Fats, said on Wednesday. "Attention will focus on the pace of US export shipments, domestic crushing margins and demand from the livestock sector," said Liu Jinlu, an agriculture researcher at Beijing-based Guoyan Futures.

The US market will get a demand update on Thursday from September US crush data. Analysts polled by Reuters, on average, expect the National Oilseed Processors Association to report crush at a one-year low. After midweek rains in part of the Midwest are set to slow field work, harvesting may pick up again in the week ahead as drier weather returns. The US Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday that 46% of the soybean crop had been harvested as of last Sunday, surpassing the average analyst estimate.

CBOT wheat inched up 0.7% to $6.73-3/4 a bushel and CBOT corn edged up 0.16% to $4.81-1/2 a bushel. Chicago prices have shown little reaction to further attacks in the western Black Sea, including a strike on two chemical tankers in Romanian territorial waters on Thursday that Romanian officials attributed to Russian drones. Worries over disruption to massive Black Sea trade, due to Russia's war with Ukraine, have been tempered by increased shipments of Russian wheat through alternative Baltic routes. A rally in the dollar index, which hit an 18-month high on Wednesday before easing on Thursday, has also dented export prospects for US wheat.

The corn market remained pressured by last Friday's unexpected increase to the USDA's forecast of this year's US corn production. This week's showers, which could keep corn harvesting sluggish after farmers focused on soybeans last week, have nonetheless underpinned prices.

Prices at 1116 GMT Last Change Pct Move CBOT wheat 673.75 0.50 0.07 CBOT corn 481.50 0.75 0.16 CBOT soy 1275.00 -2.25 -0.18 Paris wheat 247.75 -0.50 -0.20 Paris maize 302.75 -0.25 -0.08 Paris rapeseed 516.75 -5.25 -1.01 WTI crude oil 95.01 -0.08 -0.08 Euro/dollar 1.12 0.01 0.56 Most active contracts — Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel, Paris futures in euros per metric ton (Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Daphne Zhang and Lewis Jackson in Beijing; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Ronojoy Mazumdar and Leroy Leo) ((gus.trompiz@thomsonreuters.com)