* Corn, soybeans steady as U.S. crop ratings, weather in focus
* Wheat slips again as Black Sea competition continues
CHICAGO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Soybeans futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were little changed Tuesday, as cooler, wetter weather forecasts competed with demand optimism for direction.
Chicago corn eased, pressured by expectations that timely rains in August would improve heat-stressed crops.
Wheat fell for a fifth session as U.S. harvest progresses, while ongoing competition from Russian supplies diverted attention from war-related risks in the Black Sea export zone.
The Chicago Board of Trade's (CBOT) most-active soybean contract lost 3-3/4 cents to $13.28 a bushel by 11:10 a.m. (1710 GMT).
CBOT wheat was down 18-1/2 cents at $6.47-1/4 a bushel. CBOT Corn eased 5 cents to $5.08 a bushel.
A report released after Monday's market close by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed good-to-excellent ratings for the U.S. corn and soybean crops decreased by more than expected in the last week as temperatures across the Midwest soared to the hottest of the summer.
The data helped to counter selling pressure after forecasts of moderate weather for August weighed on the market on Monday.
"Rain’s coming in the forecast. There’s no hot temperatures," said Mark Schultz, chief analyst at Minnesota-based Northstar Commodity. "Beans look good. Is anything showing any stress? Not really."
The market was also monitoring U.S. export activity after an increase in the volume of weekly port inspections and the announcement of sales of 132,000 metric tonnes of soybeans to China.
"Domestic demand is strong, with new crushing facilities coming online, we just can't afford to drop yield much below trend," said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX.
The USDA is due to release its June soy crush report after the close. Analysts polled by Reuters, on average, expect the crush at a nine-month low of 175.5 million bushels.
USDA data also showed that the U.S. winter wheat harvest was in its latter stages, adding pressure.
Wheat prices jumped last month after the collapse of a wartime deal allowing Ukrainian sea exports amid attacks on Ukrainian ports, which revived fears of disruption to massive Black Sea grain trade. (Reporting by Christopher Walljasper; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
