GRAINS-Chicago soybeans, corn fall on China demand worries, benign U.S. weather

BEIJING, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean and corn futures fell on Monday, pressured by favourable U.S. weather and concerns over export demand as U.S. trade tensions with top buyer China continued to weigh on the market.

The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 was down 0.38% at $10.38-4/8 per bushel, as of 0226 GMT.

A week ago, U.S. President Donald Trump urged China to quadruple its soybean purchases, briefly fuelling hopes for stronger demand, but optimism has since faded, with little sign of progress in trade talks on the issue.

U.S. soybean exporters risk missing out on billions of dollars worth of sales to China this year as negotiations drag on, traders said.

Corn Cv1 slipped 0.8% to $4.02 a bushel, pressured by benign weather and abundant supplies.

The USDA last week forecast a record-large U.S. corn crop in 2025/26, while projecting a much smaller-than-expected soybean harvest.

"U.S. futures markets today are mainly driven by benign U.S. weather and a bit of continued indigestion from last week's USDA report," said Ole Houe of IKON Commodities in Sydney.

"Global demand is still slow. China has yet to show up for beans or corn out of the U.S. so the market tends to slide every day there is no new news," he added.

Traders are also watching the Pro Farmer Midwest crop tour, which will estimate corn yields and gauge soybean production potential across seven U.S. states this week before issuing its crop outlook on Friday.

Wheat Wv1 dropped 0.43% to $5.24-6/8 a bushel on concerns about big global supplies.