*
Argentina drought, mixed Brazil weather in focus
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Wheat eases as Black Sea competition, corridor deal
assessed
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Dollar rally curbs grains as interest rate expectations
rise
(Updates with European trading, changes byline/dateline)
By Gus Trompiz and Naveen Thukral
PARIS/SINGAPORE, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean and
corn futures ticked higher on Friday as the markets assessed
contrasting weather conditions for South American crops.
Wheat eased, retreating further from a six-week high on
Tuesday, as short-term competition from the Black Sea region
offset risks over a wartime shipping corridor from Ukraine.
A jump in the dollar index to a six-week top, as
investors upped their expectations for U.S. interest rates after
latest economic data, restrained Chicago grains. Progress in harvesting what is expected to be a record
Brazilian soybean crop has acted as a brake on U.S. prices.
But Argentina's worst drought in six decades has slashed
forecasts for the country's soybean and corn production, and
early frosts in the coming days could further damage some crops,
the Buenos Aires grains exchange said on Thursday.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of
Trade (CBOT) was up 0.2% at $15.28-3/4 a bushel as of 1227
GMT, though it remained below an eight-month peak struck on
Monday.
"There is a lot of product coming to the market in Brazil,"
Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank,
said of soybeans.
Consultancy AgRural lowered its forecast of Brazil's soybean crop to 150.9 million tonnes, down from 152.9 million previously, but still projected a record level. However, drought in the far south of Brazil and heavy rain further north have raised uncertainty about soy harvest progress and prospects for the second corn crop. "The corn market is trying to stabilise amid uncertainties on the South American harvest, particularly in Argentina," consultancy Agritel said.
CBOT corn added 0.2% to $6.77-1/4 a bushel. CBOT wheat was down 0.6% at $7.65 a bushel. Negotiations will start in a week on extending a U.N.-backed grain export corridor from Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official said on Friday. Grain markets were also looking ahead to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's annual Outlook Forum next week expected to feature the agency's preliminary forecasts for 2023 plantings and production of major U.S. crops. (Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Chizu Nomiyama)
Messaging: gus.trompiz.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))