CBOT wheat sags, led by corn and soy; Black Sea tensions eyed

CHICAGO, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures inched lower on Monday, led by declines in soybean and corn, while worries about tensions in the Black Sea grain export region underpinned the market, traders said.

• CBOT March soft red winter wheat WH26 settled down 1 cent at $5.34-3/4 per bushel.

• K.C. March hard red winter wheat KWH26 ended down 4-3/4 cents at $5.26-1/2 a bushel and Minneapolis March spring wheat MWEH26 fell 1-3/4 cents to settle at $5.71-1/4 a bushel.

• Ukraine's maritime export terminals have reduced grain intake due to constant Russian attacks, which are curtailing trading activity, analyst Barva Invest said on Friday. War insurance costs for ships sailing to the Black Sea have spiked again, shipping and insurance sources said last week.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of U.S. wheat in the latest week at 393,341 metric tons, near the high end of trade expectations for 200,000 to 400,000 tons. USDA/I

• In a backdated weekly report, the USDA reported net export sales of U.S. wheat in the week to November 6 at 462,500 metric tons, in line with trade estimates for 250,000 to 600,000 tons.

• Ahead of the USDA's monthly supply/demand report on Tuesday, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expect the government to trim its forecast of 2025/26 U.S. wheat ending stocks while raising its projection of world wheat stocks.

• In preliminary "baseline" forecasts released on Friday, the USDA projected that U.S. farmers will reduce wheat and corn seedings for 2026 and expand soybean plantings.