Jan 31 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat, soybean and corn futures were little changed in Asian trading on Tuesday as caution prevailed across markets ahead of a slew of central bank policy meetings this week, including the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Investors broadly expect the U.S. Fed to raise interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, while both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank are likely to increase their rates by 50 bps on Thursday.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was virtually flat at $15.34-3/4 a bushel, as of 0606 GMT. Wheat was almost steady at $7.52-3/4 a bushel, while corn slipped 0.1% to $6.83 a bushel.
The week has started with "a more cautious tone across markets", said Taylor Nugent, economist at National Australia Bank.
"Central banks, key data, and earnings all loom large this week, though the news flow over the last 24 hours has been comparatively quiet."
Prices, however, remained supported amid worries about supply, with the drought in Argentina and the weather condition in southern Brazil as well as production prospects in Ukraine still in focus.
Ukraine's grain harvest is likely to fall to 35 million tonnes to 40 million tonnes in 2023, including 12 million-15 million tonnes of wheat and 15 million-17 million tonnes of corn, a senior analyst and producer said.
Capping U.S. soybean futures, Brazilian farmers had harvested 5% of the planted soybean area in the 2022/23 cycle through last Thursday, according to agribusiness consultancy AgRural, up 3 percentage points from the previous week though still below last year's levels.
Meanwhile, wheat prices in India, the world's biggest consumer of the grain after China, have dropped nearly 13% from record highs since a government offer last week of 3 million tonnes to bulk consumers such as flour millers.
Traders also kept an eye on China's grains demand.
The expectation of large Brazilian corn exports to China in 2023 is worrying Brazil's meat companies in a large producing state, according to a statement from Santa Catarina's meat processors lobby Sindicarne. (Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
