CANBERRA, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures edged lower on Friday but were on track for a fourth consecutive weekly gain amid expectations of strong demand from China and worries about the weather in top exporter Brazil.
Corn and wheat prices also dipped.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.1% at $13.27-1/2 a bushel by 0032 GMT, but up 0.6% this week.
* CBOT wheat fell 0.1% to $5.65 a bushel and was down 1.8% from last Friday's close. Corn slipped 0.2% to $4.69-1/4 a bushel and was down 2.4% over the week.
* China's soybean imports are likely to stay high through the fourth quarter, taking 2023 purchases to an all-time record, analysts and traders said.
* Bolstering hopes for strong exports was news that U.S. agriculture industry representatives met with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing on Thursday to boost farm trade.
* Recent data showed that U.S. soybean meal exports were well on their way to new highs this season after a bad soybean harvest in top soymeal supplier Argentina earlier this year.
* Commodity brokerage StoneX this week lowered its forecast for U.S. soybean production to 4.162 billion bushels from 4.175 billion bushels.
* In Brazil, just months after the country harvested its largest-ever corn and soybean crops, concerns are already brewing over the next crop as wild weather patterns disrupt northern and southern soybean-production areas.
* In Argentina, farmers received 50-60 millimeters (2-2.4 inches) of rain on Thursday, providing relief to the country's thirsty corn crop and an opportunity for farmers to begin sowing soybeans, the Rosario grains exchange said.
* CBOT soybeans have risen around 6% from last month's 22-month low of $12.51, but prices are still down around 13% since the start of the year.
* Moving to wheat, the Buenos Aires grains exchange cut its forecast for Argentina's 2023/24 crop to 15.4 million metric tons from 16.2 million tons, citing adverse weather.
* Ukraine's grain exports rose by 20% to 2.5 million tons in October versus September thanks to a new Black Sea export corridor, the UCAB agricultural business association said, easing supply fears.
* Weekly U.S. export sales data was disappointing, with the government reporting sales of 2023/24 wheat in the week ended Oct. 26 at 275,600 metric tons, below trade expectations for 300,000 to 600,000 tons.
* Commodity funds hold a large net short position in CBOT wheat, leaving the market vulnerable to bouts of short-covering.
* Fund speculators were net buyers of Chicago soybean, wheat and soyoil futures on Thursday and net sellers of corn and soymeal, traders said.
MARKETS NEWS
Global stock indexes jumped and the U.S. dollar fell on Thursday on investor optimism that the Federal Reserve may be done hiking interest rates, while benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell to three-week lows.
(Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
