GRAINS-Export, domestic demand support U.S. soy; corn, wheat weak

 (Updates prices) 
    * China books new purchases of U.S. soy 
    * Corn falls on fresh DDG rejections by China 
    * Wheat drops 2 percent as global supply expectations rise 
 
    By Mark Weinraub 
    CHICAGO, Jan 15 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures rose for 
the fifth day in a row on Wednesday due to strong demand from 
exporters as well as domestic processors, traders said. 
    Wheat futures crumbled, dropping 2 percent, as huge global 
supplies weighed on the market. Corn also was weaker, with fresh 
Chinese rejections of distillers' dried grains roiling export 
prospects for U.S. supplies, traders said. 
    The U.S. Agriculture Department on Wednesday morning said 
private exporters reported the sale of 106,000 tonnes of U.S. 
soybeans to China for the 2014/15 marketing year. 
    
    A weekly USDA report on Thursday morning was expected to 
show export sales of soybeans in a range from 750,000 to 1.05 
million tonnes, up from 156,200 tonnes a week ago. 
        
    "We are just continuing to see the demand leading the soy 
complex higher," said Karl Setzer, analyst at MaxYield 
Cooperative in West Bend, Iowa. 
    "Soybeans are taking the majority of their support today off 
simple demand coming out of the Asian market." 
    The monthly crush report from the U.S. National Oilseed 
Processors Association showed that domestic demand for the 
oilseed remained strong amid good profit margins. NOPA said that 
U.S. processors crushed a record 165.384 million bushels of 
soybeans in December, topping market forecasts.    
    Chicago Board of Trade March soybeans    closed up 11 
cents at $13.18 a bushel. The contract has risen 3.8 percent 
during its five-session winning streak, the longest for the 
benchmark contract since a six-day stretch ended Nov. 13, 2013. 
    New-crop soybean contracts weakened despite the gain in the 
nearby futures, weighed down by expectations of large crops from 
South America and the United States in the coming year.  
    The old-crop/new-crop spread widened to more than $2 for the 
first time this year even amid concerns about dry and hot 
weather in Argentina potentially curtailing crop production.  
    CBOT corn futures for March delivery    settled down 
5-3/4 cents at $4.25-3/4 a bushel. 
    A weak cash market contributed to the decline, as processors 
and ethanol plants lowered their basis bids following good 
farmer sales in recent days. 
    "The corn rally which started on Friday seems to have run 
out of steam with the rising prices generating selling among 
those holding inventories," said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen. 
    "The outlook for corn demand is also dimming, with China 
rejecting U.S. cargoes in the dispute about genetically-modified 
shipments at a time of high corn inventories." 
    Chinese quarantine authorities have rejected more cargoes of 
distillers' dried grains (DDGs), a corn by-product from the 
United States, due to the presence of an unapproved 
genetically-modified (GMO) strain, traders said on Wednesday. 
    The size of the rejections was unknown.    
    CBOT March soft red winter wheat    ended down 11-1/2 
cents at $5.67-3/4 a bushel, ending near session lows. Traders 
said the market was technically weak, closing below the low end 
of its 20-day Bollinger range. 
    Ukraine boosted its 2013 grain harvest estimate by 36 
percent to a record high. Estimate includes 22.278 million 
tonnes of wheat, up from 15.762 million in 2012.    
India's 2014 wheat production was seen at more than 100 million 
tonnes, a new record, according to Farm Minister Sharad Pawar. 
   
  
Prices at 1:48 p.m. CST (1948 GMT)       
                             LAST      NET    PCT     YTD 
                                       CHG    CHG     CHG 
CBOT corn               425.75    -5.75  -1.3%    0.9% 
CBOT soy               1318.00    11.00   0.8%    0.4% 
CBOT meal              434.50     4.40   1.0%   -0.7% 
CBOT soyoil             37.99     0.23   0.6%   -2.1% 
CBOT wheat              567.75   -11.50  -2.0%   -6.2% 
CBOT rice             1564.00    16.00   1.0%    0.8% 
EU wheat              192.75    -2.25  -1.2%   -7.8% 
                                                          
US crude                94.29     1.70   1.8%   -4.2% 
Dow Jones              16,495      121   0.7%   -0.5% 
Gold                  1238.51    -6.20  -0.5%    2.8% 
Euro/dollar            1.3602  -0.0077  -0.6%   -0.4% 
Dollar Index          81.0170   0.3550   0.4%    1.2% 
Baltic Freight          1374        4   0.3%  -39.7% 
In U.S. cents, benchmark contracts, except EU wheat (euros) and 
soymeal (dollars). CBOT wheat, corn and soybeans per bushel, 
rice per hundredweight, soymeal per ton and soyoil per lb. 
 
 (Editing by Sophie Hares and Meredith Mazzilli) 
 ((mark.weinraub@thomsonreuters.com)(+1 312 408 8587)(Reuters 
Messaging: mark.weinraub.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: MARKETS GRAINS/