CANBERRA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean and corn futures steadied on Tuesday after falling oil prices and improved crop conditions in major producer Brazil dragged prices to multi-year lows in the previous trading session.
Wheat futures edged lower after a sharp drop on Monday.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.1% at $12.47-1/4 a bushel by 0115 GMT after slumping to $12.36 on Monday, its lowest since December 2021.
* CBOT corn dipped 0.1% to $4.54-1/2 a bushel after slumping to $4.52 on Monday, the lowest since December 2020.
* Wheat was down 0.3% at $5.94-1/2 a bushel. It fell 3.2% on Monday but remains above September's three-year low of $5.40.
* Oil prices fell 3.4% on Monday, dragging down corn and soybeans that are used to make ethanol and biofuels and weighing on wider grain markets. Crude edged higher on Tuesday.
* In Brazil, a key soybean and corn grower, recent and forecast rains have reduced concerns about yield losses as farmers begin to reap 2023/24 crops.
* Analysts have cut their estimates for Brazil's harvest, but corn markets are well supplied after a record U.S. crop and analysts say soybean losses in Brazil should be offset by higher production in Argentina and elsewhere in South America.
* Meanwhile, U.S. exports of soybeans and wheat have been lacklustre and a strengthening dollar since late December has made U.S. goods less competitive in export markets.
* Commodity funds were net sellers of Chicago soybeans, corn and wheat on Monday, traders said.
* Wheat futures are also under pressure from expectations that snow and rain could benefit winter wheat crops during winter storms in the central United States.
* Export prices for Russian wheat have increased slightly, with 12.5% protein grain for free-on-board delivery in February at $244 a metric ton, while market activity remained low, analysts said.
* Plentiful cheap supply from Russia has kept prices low in recent months.
* Ukraine's grain exports so far in the 2023/24 July-June marketing season have fallen to about 19.4 million metric tons from almost 23.6 million tons at the same stage last year, agriculture ministry data showed.
MARKETS NEWS
Asia's stock indexes were mostly higher on Tuesday after a tech-led surge on Wall Street as investors await the next set of U.S inflation numbers due this week, which could hint at when the Federal Reserve might start cutting interest rates.
(Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
