CANBERRA, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures touched a two-year low below $12 a bushel on Tuesday, weighed down by improving supply expectations from South America and concerns about demand from China.
Corn futures fell and were near three-year lows amid plentiful supply, while wheat edged down under pressure from cheap grain flowing out of the Black Sea region.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.2% at $11.91-1/2 a bushel by 0148 GMT after touching $11.90-1/2, the lowest since November 2021.
* CBOT corn was down 0.4% at $4.38-1/2 a bushel, a whisker away from a three-year low of $4.37 reached earlier this month.
* Wheat fell 0.1% to $5.93 a bushel, not too far from September's three-year low of $5.40.
* Soybeans have sagged since rainfall in South America boosted the prospects for crops in major producers Brazil and Argentina.
* Brazil's 2023/24 soybean harvest had reached 11% of the planted area as of last Thursday, consultants AgRural said on Monday, adding that 11% of the expected second corn area had been planted in Brazil's center-south.
* The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange last week raised its soybean and corn crop estimates for Argentina.
* On the demand side, Chinese demand for imported soybeans is expected to weaken as its pig herd shrinks and a real estate crisis deepens.
* Speculators have built their most bearish-ever January view across U.S. grains and oilseeds, and funds were net sellers of soybeans, corn and wheat futures on Monday, traders said.
* In wheat, Russian export prices continued to decline last week amid oversupply pressure in the Black Sea, with 12.5% protein FOB wheat falling to $235 a metric ton, the consultants IKAR said.
* The European Commission raised its forecast for EU stocks of soft wheat at the end of the 2023/24 season by around 700,000 tons to 19.1 million tons after upward revisions to harvest production and imports.
* A cold snap sweeping central and northern India could help farmers harvest a bumper wheat crop this year, officials and growers said. The government projects a record harvest of 114 million tons.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of U.S. wheat in the latest week at 264,666 tons, below trade expectations.
MARKETS NEWS
* Global stocks surged on Monday, with the S&P 500 closing at a new record close and European shares hitting a two-year high, as markets slashed ambitious bets on interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and other central banks.
(Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Rashmi Aich)