* U.S. wheat drops after 2 sessions of strong gains
* Easing concerns over Black Sea wheat supplies weigh
* U.S. rains reduce concerns about scattered dryness (Updates with U.S. trading, previous dateline SINGAPORE/LONDON)
By Tom Polansek
CHICAGO, Aug 18 (Reuters) – U.S. wheat futures slid 1.5 percent on Monday, giving back some of the strong gains made in the previous two sessions, as fears of potential supply disruptions from the Black Sea region eased.
New-crop corn and soybeans dipped were little changed as traders awaited results from an annual U.S. crop tour.
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Tensions between Russia and Ukraine influence the grain markets because the countries are major exporters of wheat and corn. Their conflict was viewed as less heated following talks among Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine on Sunday.
“We went home Friday thinking the Ukrainians and Russians would be at each other’s throats today,” said Jim Gerlach, president of A/C Trading. “It looks like they de-escalated a bit over the weekend.”
Russia said all objections to it sending a humanitarian convoy to Ukraine had been resolved, but no progress was made toward a ceasefire between government and rebel forces in the east of the country.
Chicago Board of Trade December wheat lost 1.5 percent to $5.55 a bushel by 10:10 a.m. CDT (1510 GMT), after climbing more than 4 percent in the previous two sessions.
December corn dropped 0.6 percent to $3.74-3/4 a bushel after rising on Friday to a nearly one-month high of $3.79-3/4 a bushel. November soybeans slipped 0.1 percent to $10.51-1/2 a bushel.
U.S. rains reduced concerns about dry crops areas, weighing on the corn and soy markets, Gerlach said.
A private U.S. crop tour this week is expected to find corn and soy yields are higher than the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated in a crop report last week. About 130 crop scouts will participate in the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour, which began surveying fields on Monday.
Expectations for record-large harvests should pressure prices, after corn futures last week posted their biggest weekly gain in five months.
“Ultimately this little bounce we had it going to fizzle out,” Gerlach said.
Prices at 10:08 a.m. CDT (1508 GMT)
LAST NET PCT YTD
CHG CHG CHG
CBOT corn 374.25 -2.75 -0.7% -11.3%
CBOT soy 1051.75 -0.25 0.0% -19.9%
CBOT meal 388.20 -0.10 0.0% -11.3%
CBOT soyoil 33.15 0.28 0.9% -14.6%
CBOT wheat 554.00 -9.50 -1.7% -8.5%
CBOT rice 1297.50 7.00 0.5% -16.3%
EU wheat 171.75 -2.00 -1.2% -17.8%
(Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Sarah
McFarlane in London; Editing by Richard Pullin, David Evans and
Meredith Mazzilli)
