GRAINS-Chicago grains drift with weather and tariffs in focus

By Gus Trompiz and Naveen Thukral

PARIS/SINGAPORE, July 9 (Reuters) - Chicago corn and soybean futures consolidated on Wednesday after a two-day slide as traders wrestled with unfolding U.S. tariff announcements while monitoring favourable crop prospects.

Wheat edged up to halt a three-session fall but with an advancing northern hemisphere harvest keeping a lid on prices.

Attention in grain markets was also turning towards monthly supply and demand forecasts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be released on Friday.

The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade Cv1 was 0.12% down at $4.13-3/4 a bushel by 1102 GMT to hold around a one-week low.

CBOT soybeans Sv1 inched down 0.02% to $10.17-1/4 a bushel.

Both crops edged higher earlier in a recovery from one-week lows on Tuesday before giving up gains.

"Early Wednesday trade showed a modest bounce across grains, likely driven by short-term bargain buying rather than any shift in the broader outlook," Donatas Jankauskas, analyst with commodity data platform CM Navigator, said in an note.

U.S. weather has been largely favourable for corn and soybeans, while in rival exporter Brazil some analysts predict the ongoing second-corn harvest will set a record like the soybean harvest earlier this year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday said 74% of the U.S. corn crop was in good or excellent condition, up 1 percentage point from a week earlier and the highest for this time of year since 2018.

Grain markets are also worried that tariff disputes with key trading partners may hurt demand for U.S. crops and exacerbate a glut in supply.

U.S. President Donald Trump broadened his global trade war this week as he announced a 50% duty on imported copper and tariffs on goods from 14 nations.

CBOT wheat Wv1 rose 0.37% to $5.49-3/4 a bushel.

Consultancy Sovecon said on Tuesday it had raised its forecast for Russia's wheat exports for the 2025-2026 season by 2.1 million metric tons to 42.9 million tons, reflecting improved crop prospects and competitive prices.

"There is little reason to be bullish for grains at the moment," a Singapore-based trader said. "At the same time, the market has suffered deep losses, so prices may have bottomed out and importers are seeing this as a buying opportunity."