(Recasts, updates with U.S. trading, adds new analyst quote;
previous PARIS/MANILA)
By Mark Weinraub
CHICAGO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean, corn and wheat
futures weakened in choppy trading on Thursday as the market
waited for definitive news on the size of South American crops.
All three commodities fluctuated between positive and
negative territory during the session.
"We are just rangebound," said Dan Smith, senior risk
manager at Top Third Ag Marketing. "There is no really bearish
or bullish news right now."
In South America, traders were focused on the impact of a
drought in Argentina that withered crops, leading to a sharp
reduction in the harvest outlook in that key global supplier.
Rain delays to Brazil's soybean harvest, which may also hold up
corn planting, were also being monitored.
Analysts said the U.S. Agriculture Department's outlook of
an Argentine soybean harvest of 41 million tonnes, issued on
Wednesday, was optimistic.
If dryness continues, "it will be difficult for Argentina to
produce more than 40 million tonnes of soybeans in the new
season," Huatai Futures analysts said in a note.
At 11:39 a.m. CST (1739 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade March
soybean futures were down 2-3/4 cents at $15.17 a bushel.
CBOT March corn futures were 6 cents lower at
$6.72-1/2 a bushel and CBOT March soft red winter wheat dropped 7-1/2 cents to $7.57-1/4 a bushel.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on
Wednesday that work to unblock Russian exports under the Black
Sea grain deal was unsatisfactory, the TASS news agency
reported.
However, results reported by traders of tenders by Algeria
this week suggested that Black Sea origins including Russian
wheat remained competitive for export.
India, meanwhile, is considering extending a ban on wheat
exports, according government sources cited by Reuters.
(Addiional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Enrico Dela
Cruz in Manila; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
Messaging: gus.trompiz.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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