CANBERRA, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures fell on Thursday to their lowest levels since December 2020 as speculators responded to plentiful supply and a strong U.S. dollar by betting on a further price drop.
Ample supply also pushed wheat futures lower, while corn hovered near a three-year low reached in the previous session.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.3% at $11.67-1/4 a bushel by 0611 GMT.
CBOT corn dropped 0.4% to $4.22-3/4 a bushel after matching Wednesday's low of $4.22, its weakest price since December 2020.
Wheat slipped 0.5% to $5.82-3/4 a bushel and was hovering close to last September's three-year low of $5.40.
Soybeans and corn have lost around 10% so far this year and wheat has fallen around 7%.
U.S. grains and soybeans face stiff competition for export business from other suppliers with plentiful cheap stocks, and the greenback hit a three-month high this week, making U.S. farm products costlier for importers.
"A strong dollar makes it more difficult for these commodities to compete on the global market in a time when global supplies are more than adequate," said StoneX analyst Arlan Suderman.
"Many of these markets are over-sold, with managed money holding massive short positions. But thus far, there isn't a headline to create concern among these money managers to cause them to change their positions," he said.
Plentiful rains in recent days across Argentina's main growing regions cemented expectations for large corn and soybean harvests there.
Consultants Sovecon raised their 2024 Russian wheat crop estimate by 1.4 million metric tons to 93.6 million tons, which would be a third consecutive bumper harvest in Russia.
U.S. ending stocks are expected to be large when the U.S. Department of Agriculture issues crop forecasts at an annual conference that begins on Thursday.
Analysts project 2024-25 soybean ending stocks at 411 million bushels, up from 315 million bushels in 2023-24, wheat ending stocks at 717 million bushels, up from 658 million in 2023-24, and corn ending stocks at 2.594 billion bushels, up from 2.172 billion in 2023-24.
Analysts also estimate 2024 U.S. soy plantings of 86.5 million acres and production of 4.421 billion bushels and corn plantings of 91.8 million acres and production of 15.150 billion bushels.
The USDA is also due to issue weekly export sales data on Thursday.
Farm office FranceAgriMer raised its forecast for French soft wheat stocks at the end of this season to a 19-year high of 3.50 million metric tons from 3.44 million last month.
Mexico will import between 14 million and 16 million metric tons of yellow corn this year, its agriculture minister said, after local production was hit by drought.
(Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
