GRAINS-Wheat trades near contract lows under ample global supply

By Heather Schlitz

CHICAGO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures see-sawed on Friday, but were headed for their biggest weekly drop since June as abundant and cheap global supply kept prices near an eight-week low.

Soybean futures declined for a sixth day, reaching their lowest price since October 24, as speculators continued to unwind long positions due to ample supply and doubts over Chinese demand.

Corn dipped after two days of gains driven by brisk U.S. exports.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade Wv1 was unchanged at $5.07-3/4 per bushel as of 10:30 a.m. CST (1630 GMT).

"It's an overall negative fundamental picture for wheat," said Randy Place, analyst at Hightower Report.

In a year of abundance for grains, big ongoing wheat harvests in Argentina and Australia are pouring new supply onto the market.

Early prospects for next year's harvests appear favourable, with top exporter Russia projecting a bumper crop of 90 million metric tons, officials said on Thursday.

CBOT soybeans Sv1 fell 4 cents to $10.48-1/4 a bushel. CBOT corn Cv1 ticked down 1-1/2 cents to $4.43 a bushel.

Uncertainty over when China may meet a target of 12 million tons in purchases of U.S. soybeans under a trade truce between Beijing and Washington has dampened the soybean market, particularly in the runup to what is expected to be another bumper Brazilian harvest in early 2026.

On Friday morning, exporters sold 134,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans to China, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a daily reporting system.

Favorable crop weather in Brazil, a major soybean exporter, has also dampened prices.

"That's adding another headwind for beans this week, and it's probably the reason we have been unable to bounce back this week," Place said.