GRAINS-Soybeans hit 1-wk low on demand worries; wheat sags, corn firms

By Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO, June 12 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures fell to one-week lows on Thursday, pressured by worries about demand for soyoil and biodiesel fuel as well as cooling domestic cash markets for the oilseed, brokers said.

Wheat futures sagged as global export business slowed while corn futures turned higher.

As of 1:05 p.m. CDT (1805 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade July soybeans SN25 were down 9 cents at $10.41-1/2 a bushel after dipping to $10.38-1/2, the contract's lowest since June 4.

CBOT July wheat WN25 was down 8 cents at $5.26-1/4 a bushel but July corn CN25 was up 2 cents at $4.39 a bushel, firming after a choppy start.

The biggest declines in CBOT soybean futures were in the spot July SN25 contract, reflecting weakening cash markets after several domestic soy processors lowered their bids to buy old-crop soybeans for prompt delivery. GRA/M

"We are not going to run out of beans any time soon. We've got a fairly decent-looking new crop coming on, and our demand just stinks," said Tom Fritz, a broker with EFG Group in Chicago.

Also, CBOT soyoil futures BON25 fell roughly 1% on worries about demand for biofuels. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday will propose new biofuel blending requirements for oil refiners that will likely include a lower biomass-based diesel mandate than industry groups had requested, four sources told Reuters.

CBOT wheat futures hit a 3-1/2 week low. In monthly supply-demand reports released Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture trimmed its forecast of U.S. wheat inventories for the end of the 2025/26 marketing year but left its estimate of the nation's wheat harvest mostly unchanged.

Slowing global wheat trade has affected the future market, Fritz said.

"World demand is not very good. We are not competitive, and the USDA just told us we've got a pretty decent-sized wheat crop coming at us," he said.

Corn ticked higher, with a slide in the dollar =USD lending support.