U.S. soybeans bounce from 6-1/2-month low; wheat, corn sag

CHICAGO, May 11 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures firmed from a 6-1/2-month low hit earlier on Thursday on a round of bargain buying as traders squared positions ahead of a key U.S. government report.

Corn and wheat futures fell, with poor demand for U.S. supplies pushing prices toward lows hit earlier this month.

"Export sales were really bad," said Ted Seifried, chief market strategist for the Zaner Group. "They were within expectations but the expectations are so poor at this point."

The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Thursday morning that weekly export sales of corn totaled just 340,400 tonnes. Seifried said the total showed that end users could bypass U.S. supplies and wait for farmers in Brazil to harvest their crop.

Wheat export sales were 359,900 tonnes and soybean export sales came in at 112,300 tonnes.

At 10:35 a.m. CDT (1535 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade July soybean futures were up 5-1/4 cents at $14.09-1/4 a bushel. Prices bottomed out at $13.85-1/4 a bushel, the lowest on a continuous basis for the most-active contract since Oct. 28.

CBOT July corn was down 10-1/4 cents at $5.83-1/4 a bushel and CBOT May soft red winter wheat was 11-3/4 cents lower at $6.29-1/2 a bushel.

The USDA will release its closely watched monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report on Friday, which will include forecasts for the 2023/24 marketing year for the first time.

Analysts were expecting the report to show that supplies of corn and soybeans will rise sharply in the coming year.

In the wheat market, talks over the Black Sea export deal remain center stage.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said after the talks ended that the deal should be extended for a longer period and expanded. But Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said that deal will expire if Moscow does not receive guarantees its demands will be met by May 18, the TASS news agency reported. (Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris Editing by Kirsten Donovan)