CANBERRA, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean prices were on track for a second consecutive weekly fall on Friday as expectations for large harvests in Argentina and Brazil offset concerns about a heat-damaged crop in the United States.
Corn was set to end the week firmer amid expectations of lower U.S. production, while wheat also edged higher.
FUNDAMENTALS:
* Most-active Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean futures were roughly unchanged at $13.59-1/4 a bushel by 0107 GMT and down 0.7% for the week.
* CBOT corn rose 0.2% to $4.87 a bushel and was up 1.1% for the week. Wheat gained 0.2% to $6.00-3/4 a bushel and was up nearly 1% so far this week.
* The Buenos Aires grains exchange on Thursday forecast Argentina's 2023/2024 soybean crop at 50 million metric tons, more than double last year's level and the most for five years.
* That came a day after Brazilian food supply agency Conab said Brazil should produce a record 154.6 million tons of soybeans and export almost 97 million tons in the 2022/23 cycle.
* Argentina and Brazil are major agricultural exporters.
* CBOT soybeans rose in August as hot and dry weather in the United States, another major exporter, damaged crops at a crucial stage of their development. But prices have fallen 3.5% from a one-month high of $14.10 a bushel reached on Aug. 28.
* Analysts expect this month's U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates, due on Tuesday, will show smaller U.S. soybean and corn harvests than were predicted in August.
* However, demand for U.S. exports has remained strong, with a string of soybean sales to China and unknown buyers in late August and early September. The USDA on Friday will issue weekly export sales data.
* Turning to corn, the Buenos Aires grains exchange forecast an Argentinian harvest of 55 million tons, the second highest on record and up from 34 million tons the year before.
* Ample supply has kept corn prices near three-year lows despite a decline in the condition of U.S. crops.
* For wheat, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said Argentina should produce 16.5 million tons, up from 12.2 million tons last season but below the 18 million tons previously forecast.
* Dry weather has hit wheat harvests in Argentina, Canada and Australia, but prices have been held down by huge exports of cheap grain from Russia and continued shipments from Ukraine despite the collapse of safe exports deal with Russia.
* Ukraine said on Thursday Russia had carried out its fourth drone attack in five days on Ukrainian port facilities on the Danube River, damaging grain silos.
* Ukrainian grain traders union UGA, however, said exports through the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta could increase to 35 million metric tons per season, and a Ukrainian official said Ukraine had started exporting via Croatian seaports.
* Meanwhile, Lloyd's of London is in talks with the United Nations over providing insurance cover for Ukrainian grain shipments if a new Black Sea corridor deal can be reached, its CEO said.
MARKETS NEWS
Global stock indexes were mostly lower on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq falling alongside shares of Apple, while the U.S. dollar advanced following weaker-than-expected U.S. jobless claims data.
(Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
