GRAINS-Soybeans rise on export optimism; corn, wheat choppy after USDA report

By Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures rose nearly 1% on Tuesday on optimism about demand for U.S. supplies, analysts said, but stayed below a two-month high set last week.

Corn and wheat futures were narrowly mixed in choppy trade after the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a monthly report raised its forecast of U.S. corn exports for the current marketing year.

As of 1:11 p.m. CST (1911 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade March soybean futures SH26 were up 9-3/4 cents at $11.20-1/2 per bushel. The contract reached $11.37-3/4 last week, its highest level in two months.

CBOT March corn CH26 was down 1/4 cent at $4.28-1/2 a bushel while March wheat WH26 was unchanged at $5.28-3/4 a bushel.

Soybeans rose despite bearish data in the USDA's monthly supply-demand report. The agency raised its estimate of soybean production in Brazil, the world's top supplier of the oilseed, to 180 million metric tons, from its previous estimate of 178 million and above an average of analyst estimates for 179.39 million.

The USDA left its forecast of U.S. soybean stocks remaining at the end of the current marketing year unchanged at 350 million bushels.

Some brokers remain optimistic that U.S. soybean exports will increase, potentially tightening stocks of the oilseed, in light of U.S. President Donald Trump's remark last week that China had increased its target for U.S. soybean purchases under a trade truce.

"They (traders) believe that the ending stocks are going to come down, from the administration trying to be pro-demand from China," said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based U.S. Commodities.

Strength in soyoil futures lent support. CBOT soyoil futures 0#BO: hit contract highs across the board, buoyed this week by optimism about a U.S.-India trade pact that could boost export demand along with demand from the biofuels sector.

Corn and wheat futures were anchored by abundant global supplies, with wheat also losing recent weather support as severe cold in the Northern Hemisphere production belts subsides.

In Russia, increased demand from importers and bad weather at ports supported export prices for Russian wheat last week, outweighing forecasts of a strong new harvest, analysts said.

In Western Europe, France's agriculture ministry raised its 2026 sowing estimate for the country's main wheat crop slightly, confirming its expectation of an expanded area compared with last year.