Soybeans near 3-week lows on better-than-expected supply outlook

CANBERRA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures edged higher on Wednesday, having fallen 1.6% in the previous session after the U.S. government cut its production forecast less than analysts had expected and Brazil was predicted to export more than had been thought.

Chicago corn inched up after dropping nearly 2% on Tuesday when the U.S. government raised its production outlook. Wheat prices edged higher.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Most-active Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean futures were 0.1% higher at $13.48 a bushel by 0123 GMT, but still hovered near a three-week low of $13.40-3/4 hit on Tuesday.

* CBOT corn edged 0.1% higher to $4.77 a bushel after hitting $4.74 on Tuesday, equalling last month's 32-month low.

* Wheat also gained 0.1% to $5.88-1/4 a bushel.

* The U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) in its monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report projected a U.S. soybean harvest of 4.146 billion bushels and an average yield of 50.1 bushels an acre.

* The prediction was a downgrade from a month earlier and will help push domestic supplies to their lowest in eight years, but it was a smaller downgrade than traders had expected.

* Meanwhile, oilseed group Abiove said Brazil's soybean exports should reach 99 million metric tons in 2023, 500,000 more than it projected a month ago, amid a record Brazilian harvest.

* The United States and Brazil are top soybean exporters.

* On the import side, European Union soybean imports in the 2023/24 season that started in July had reached 2.52 million metric tons by Sept. 8, up 7% from 2.36 million as of Sept. 11, 2022, EU data showed.

* For corn, the USDA lifted its forecast for U.S. production to 15.134 billion bushels - the second-biggest U.S. harvest on record - with average yields of 173.8 bushels an acre.

* Higher U.S. supply will add to an ample global stockpile resulting from a massive crop in Brazil.

* France's farm ministry also increased its forecast for this year's corn harvest to 11.22 million metric tons from 10.89 million projected in August, though it revised down its estimate for the country's soft wheat crop.

* On the demand side, China's agriculture ministry raised its corn import estimates for the 2022/23 crop year ending this month by 500,000 metric tons from August to 18.5 million tons.

* Moving to wheat, the EU agriculture commissioner said he believes the European Commission should extend a temporary ban on Ukraine imports into five neighbouring EU states. Kyiv warned it could seek international arbitration.

* Soft wheat exports from the EU since the start of the 2023/24 season had reached 5.84 million metric tons by Sept. 8, down 27% from 8.02 million tons by Sept. 11 last year, data showed.

* Wheat fell to a 33-month low on Tuesday, with the market awash with cheap Russian grain, but prices rebounded after the USDA forecast lower-than-expected world stocks.

MARKETS NEWS

Technology shares pulled Wall Street to a lower close and oil prices soared on Tuesday, as investors looked ahead to key inflation data that could influence the outlook for U.S. interest rates.

(Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)