GRAINS-US corn futures climb to 6-month top; wheat firms, soy sags

New throughout; updates prices, adds analyst comments, changes dateline from BEIJING/PARIS

By Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - U.S. corn futures hit a six-month high on Friday on stronger-than-expected weekly export sales data and supportive chart signals, analysts said.

Wheat rose on brisk export sales, a softer dollar and bargain buying after recent lows, while soybean futures sagged as traders anticipated large South American soy harvests.

As of 1:05 p.m. CST (1905 GMT), the benchmark corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade Cv1 was steady at $4.53-3/4 per bushel, paring gains after reaching $4.55, the highest on a continuous chart of the most-active contract since mid-June.

CBOT wheat Wv1 was up 5-1/4 cents at $5.46-1/4 a bushel while soybeans Sv1 were down 8 cents at $9.89-1/4 a bushel.

Corn steadied after rising on robust export demand. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export sales of U.S. corn in the week to Dec. 19 at 1.7 million metric tons, topping a range of trade expectations for 1.0 million to 1.6 million tons.

"We're seeing a host of buyers building ownership," StoneX commodities economist Arlan Suderman wrote in a client note. CBOT corn futures had dipped to four-year lows below $4 a bushel as recently as August. End users of the grain have since been taking advantage of the dip, booking purchases in case South American corn harvests falter, Suderman said.

CBOT wheat extended its rebound from life-of-contract lows set last week. The USDA reported weekly U.S. wheat export sales at 612,400 metric tons, above a range of trade expectations for 250,000 to 600,000 tons. A light setback in the dollar .DXY lent support, making U.S. grains more competitive globally.

Algeria's state grains agency OAIC is believed to have purchased an estimated 1.17 million metric tons of milling wheat in an international tender that closed on Tuesday, European traders said this week.

Soybean futures retreated after a two-session climb, pressured by optimism about soybean production prospects in Brazil, the world's top supplier, and lower-than-expected weekly U.S. soybean export sales. EXP/SOY

Meanwhile, Argentina's Buenos Aires Grains Exchange raised its corn planting area estimate while trimming the pegged soybean area for the 2024/25 season.

Bunge Global said it was restarting a soybean processing plant in Cairo, Illinois, after a fire in a conveyor belt temporarily shuttered it on Thursday.

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; additional reporting by Mei Mei Chu in Bejing and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris
Editing by Matthew Lewis)

((Julie.ingwersen@thomsonreuters.com; 1-313-484-5283; Reuters Messaging: julie.ingwersen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))