* Wheat up for 3rd day as frost hurts Argentine crop
* Expectations of strong China demand support wheat
* Corn trades near lowest since Aug 14, soy firm
(Adds comment, detail)
By Naveen Thukral
SINGAPORE, Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat rose for a third
session on Wednesday, climbing to its highest in a week as frost
threatened crops in Argentina and on expectations of strong
demand from China.
Corn was little changed, trading near its lowest in six
weeks as seasonal harvest pressure continued to weigh on the
market, while soybeans rose as uncertainty over U.S. production
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underpinned prices.
Argentina's wheat belt was hit by frost early on Tuesday
that threatened to damage 2013/14 crop yields, meteorologists
said, warning that more cold weather was on the way.
"Unfavourable crop conditions in Argentina could reduce the
global supply of wheat and overseas buyers will turn to U.S.
wheat," said Joyce Liu, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures
Singapore.
"China needs to import more wheat to meet its needs as bad
weather ruined its domestic crop."
Chicago Board of Trade December wheat rose as much as
0.3 percent to $6.60-1/2 a bushel, the highest since September
19.
December corn was unchanged at $4.48-3/4 a bushel, not
far from Tuesday's near six-week low of $4.48 a bushel. November
soybeans gained 0.4 percent to $13.18-1/4 a bushel.
Chinese wheat prices have hit record peaks due to dwindling
high-quality supplies and growing expectations state purchase
prices will rise before the planting season begins next month.
Beijing, keen to encourage farmers to grow more wheat for
the 2014 harvest, is expected to announce an increase in the
price it pays for grain for its national stockpiles before
planting begins in October.
In the corn market there was pressure from the advancing
harvest in the United States.
Satisfactory weather is expected over the next couple of
weeks for harvesting of the 2013 U.S. corn and soybean crops, an
agricultural meteorologist said.
"There are also reports of better-than-expected yields
during the early harvest of U.S. corn," said Liu. "Expectations
of a record corn output will continue pressuring corn prices
going forward."
Reports of variable yields from the early soybean harvest
dragged on prices for the oilseed.
With the U.S. soybean harvest under way - 3 percent of the
crop had been cut by Sept. 22 - commodity analysts remain unsure
about how many acres were planted last spring, making it
difficult to determine the crop size of the world's largest
producer.
Prices at 0223 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct chg MA 30 RSI
CBOT wheat 659.25 1.00 +0.15% 866.38 66
CBOT corn 448.75 0.00 +0.00% 756.87 32
CBOT soy 1318.25 5.75 +0.44% 1574.48 38
CBOT rice $15.50 $0.01 +0.10% $15.48 46
WTI crude $103.28 $0.15 +0.15% $89.42 33
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.348 $0.119
USD/AUD 0.939 -0.117
Most active contracts
Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight
RSI 14, exponential
(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Joseph Radford)
GRAINS-Wheat near 1-wk high on supply concerns, corn around 6-wk low
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