CBOT Trends-Wheat down 6-10 cents, corn down 3-4 cents, soybeans unchanged to down 3 cents

CHICAGO, March 20 (Reuters) - The following are U.S. expectations for the resumption of grain and soy complex trading at the Chicago Board of Trade at 8:30 a.m. CDT (1330 GMT) on Friday:

WHEAT - Down 6 to 10 cents per bushel

• Wheat futures retreated on profit-taking, as traders continue to track dry conditions potentially worsening in the U.S. Plains winter wheat belt.

• The condition of French soft wheat, winter barley and durum crops remained stable in the week to March 16, while crop development continued to run ahead of the average, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday.

• The International Grains Council forecasts a decline in global grains production in 2026/27, driven partly by an expected drop in U.S. output and heightened risks from the Middle East conflict.

• The IGC projected global wheat production would drop to 822 million tons from 845 million in the previous season.

• Weather forecasts are calling for dry conditions to intensify across the U.S. hard-red winter wheat growing region in the coming week.

• CBOT May soft red winter wheat WK26 was last down 7 cents at $6.01 per bushel. K.C. May hard red winter wheat KWK26 was last down 8-1/4 cents at $6.19 a bushel and Minneapolis May spring wheat MWEK26 was trading 7-1/4 cents lower at $6.36-1/2 per bushel.

CORN - Down 3 to 4 cents per bushel

• Corn futures edged lower, following falling crude oil prices CLc1 which pressured the market, given corn's role as a feedstock for ethanol.

• In a joint statement on Thursday, after earlier hesitating, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan expressed "our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait", through which 20% of the world's oil and LNG transit.

• Looking to curb soaring oil prices, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. may soon remove sanctions from Iranian oil stranded on tankers, and said a further release of crude from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve was possible.

• Massive wildfires have burned vast swathes of grazing lands in Nebraska, endangering cattle producers' plans for production increases that could help ease record-high U.S. beef prices.

• Some investors are uncertain whether surging fuel and fertilizer prices will have a material impact on U.S. farmers' planting decisions this spring - uncertainty that is adding to grain market volatility, traders said.

• The International Grains Council on Thursday projected world corn production would fall to 1.303 billion tons from 1.320 billion tons in 2025/26.

• Ukraine could boost rapeseed plantings by a third to 1.5 million hectares if the conflict in Iran drags on, its deputy economy minister told Reuters on Thursday, as soaring global fuel prices lift demand for biodiesel feedstocks. Vysotskiy said farmers still had time to decide which crops to replace with rapeseed.

• China - one of the world's largest fertilizer exporters - is clamping down on fertilizer exports to protect its domestic market, a number of industry sources said, putting an additional strain on global markets that were already grappling with shortages caused by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

• CBOT May corn CK26 was last down 3-1/2 cents at $4.66-1/4 per bushel.

SOYBEANS - Unchanged to down 3 cents per bushel

• Soybean futures eased as oil prices turned lower and last week's export sales were sluggish.

• China, the world's largest soybean importer, brought in 1.49 million metric tons of soybeans from the U.S. in January and February, down 83.7% from 9.13 million tons a year earlier, according to customs data published on Friday.

• Traders are looking ahead to an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to provide more clarity on China's future demand for American soybeans. On Thursday, Trump said his trip to Beijing had been delayed by about a month and a half.

• Traders are watching whether Brazil's tighter phytosanitary checks and China's prolonged customs clearance could slow the pace of South American soybean supplies arriving in the coming months.

• Brazil's government should allow more biodiesel to be blended into conventional diesel to combat the energy price crisis caused by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, oilseed crushers' association Abiove told Reuters on Thursday.

• CBOT May soybeans SK26 were last down 1/4 cent at $11.68-1/4 per bushel.