GRAINS-Wheat rises on tight Russian supply, corn and soy stuck near lows

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, July 10 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat futures rose on Thursday on the limited availability of supplies for export in Russia, traders said.

Corn and soybean futures were little changed, consolidating near multi-month lows as traders looked ahead to U.S. Department of Agriculture monthly crop estimates due on Friday.

The agency is expected to trim its estimate for all-wheat production in the United States, analysts said in a Reuters poll.

In Russia, the world's biggest wheat exporter, a slow start to harvesting and reluctant selling by farmers were forcing exporters to raise prices as they tried to secure supplies to load vessels, according to traders.

Moscow ordered measures to boost agriculture exports after international sales of wheat fell to their lowest since 2008.

The most-active wheat contract Wv1 on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 7 cents at $5.54 a bushel by 12:20 p.m. CDT (1720 GMT), breaking a four-session fall.

Investors hold large short positions in CBOT wheat, making the market prone to short-covering moves.

European wheat futures also advanced.

"The Russian harvest is still running late and some exporters are covering themselves on Euronext," a European trader said. "It should be short-lived though as it looks like Russia is going to harvest around 85 million tons."

In CBOT soybeans, the most-active contract Sv1 hit a three-month low before turning higher, while corn remained near an eight-month low touched in late June.

Favourable Midwest weather continues to hang over the markets, fuelling expectations of bumper U.S. harvests that would add to big crops in rival exporter Brazil.

U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal on Wednesday of a 50% tariff on all imports from Brazil was not seen directly affecting grains, unlike other farm commodities like coffee.

But weakness in Brazil's currency, the real, could have a bearish knock-on effect on grain markets by encouraging Brazilian farmers to sell their crops, traders said.

CBOT corn Cv1 was flat at $4.15-1/2 a bushel, and CBOT soybeans Sv1 rose 4 cents to $10.11-1/4 a bushel.