SINGAPORE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Chicago corn gained ground on Monday, with prices underpinned by short-covering after the market dropped to its lowest level in more than three years last week, weighed down by ample world supplies and expectations of a bumper harvest in South America.
Soybeans rose for the first time in four sessions, while wheat recouped some of the last session's losses.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) rose 0.5% to $4.15-3/4 a bushel, as of 0119 GMT, having dropped to its lowest since November 2020 last week.
* Soybeans added 0.4% to $11.46-3/4 a bushel and wheat gained 0.5% at $5.72 a bushel.
* Larger inventories of corn, mainly used to feed animals and as a biofuel, are providing headwinds to prices, which have dropped almost 12% so far in 2024.
* U.S. farmers held a whopping 7.83 billion bushels of corn in storage bins on their farms as of Dec. 1, the most ever for that date and up 16% from a nine-year low in December 2022, according to U.S. government data.
* Globally, leftover inventories are projected to reach a five-year high by September after accounting for all the corn used to feed livestock, make biofuels and other purposes.
* The steep decline in prices this year is hitting farmers worldwide, especially those who are on track to harvest in the months ahead.
* A highly anticipated record corn harvest in Argentina could see its benefits curbed by a global decline in prices, the country's Rosario grains exchange said on Friday, in a possible blow to a new government battling the economy's worst crisis in decades.
* Corn exports from Argentina, the world's third biggest supplier, are expected to rise 53% compared to the last season, thanks to ample rainfall favouring the harvest estimated at a record 57 million metric tons.
* Ample global supplies of soybeans and wheat have also pressured prices.
* Large speculators increased their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week to Feb. 20, regulatory data released on Friday showed.
* The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in CBOT wheat and trimmed their net short position in soybeans.
MARKET NEWS
* Asian shares were taking a breather near seven-month highs as investors awaited inflation data from the United States, Japan and Europe that will help refine expectations for future rate moves.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 1500 US New Home Sales-Units Jan (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
