Wheat and corn gain ground in Chicago, exports take center stage

By Cassandra Garrison

CHICAGO, March 17 (Reuters) – Chicago wheat and corn futures rose on Friday after a choppy week marked by turmoil in the banking sector, strong demand for U.S. corn exports and an impending deadline for the extension of a grain agreement in the Black Sea.

* Soybeans fell on expected rains in Argentina, although analysts said drought-hit crops were too depleted to show improvement at this time.

* El trigo CBOT suffered a 0.6% at 7.03 dollars el bushel at the end of 1601 GMT, mientras que el maíz ganaba un 0.1% a 6.3325 dólares el bushel, tras haber alcanzado más temprano sus máximos en más de one week.

* The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Stock Exchange (CBOT) fell 1.2% to $14.73 a bushel.

* The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced for the fourth consecutive day sales of old American corn to China, totaling 2.1 million tons in four days.

* “I think we will continue to see an increase in corn exports and I think that will help support prices,” said Jack Scoville, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

* A weaker dollar provided some support for U.S. commodities as risk appetite returned after measures taken this week to support the banking sector, and focus shifted to the meeting on the Federal Reserve interest rate policy next week.

* Prospects for a bumper crop in Brazil have restrained soybean and corn prices, although corn has found additional support this week in increased US export sales to China.

* Grain markets also watched talks to maintain a channel for transporting grain from Ukraine, with Russian pressure to reduce the length raising doubts ahead of Saturday’s deadline.

* Ukraine insists on a 120-day extension of a deal allowing the safe export of grain from Black Sea ports, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said, after the Kremlin previously reiterated its stance on a 60-day extension.

(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison in Chicago, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore. Editing in Spanish by Javier Leira)