SINGAPORE, April 21 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures slid on Friday, with the market poised for a weekly decline, as slowing demand from top importer China and lacklustre U.S. weekly exports weighed on prices.
Corn inched higher but was on track for its biggest weekly decline in eight months on forecasts of favourable weather in the U.S. Midwest, which will allow planting to accelerate.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) gave up 0.1% at $14.67-3/4 a bushel, as of 0032 GMT. Corn added 0.2% at $6.27 a bushel and wheat rose 0.3% to $6.81-3/4 a bushel.
* Soybeans have lost 2.2% so far this week, after gaining marginally last week, while corn is down almost 6%, on track for its biggest weekly drop since July. Wheat is little changed for the week.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture said weekly soybean export sales totalled 103,000 tonnes, falling below estimates.
* Brazilian soybean port premiums have fallen to historical lows in recent days amid lukewarm Chinese demand while the country reaps a record crop.
* The premiums fell to their lowest point in 19 years, according to data from Cepea/Esalq, a research center at the University of Sao Paulo, going as low as -200 basis points per bushel this week in ports like Paranagua for May shipments, surprising some by the magnitude of the decline.
* Weather in parts of the U.S. Midwest is forecast to turn drier and warmer, allowing farmers to plant their crops. In the U.S. southern Plains, there are expectations for much-needed rains, which are likely to improve the condition of the winter crop.
* Inspections of ships carrying Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports were expected to continue under a UN-brokered deal, though Kyiv faces a struggle to secure an extension of the deal with Moscow.
* Russia's foreign minister, however, said almost nothing has been done to address Moscow's concerns, when asked about the future of the Black Sea grains deal.
* A European Union plan on Wednesday to permit Ukrainian grains to continue being transported across five countries in the east of the bloc for onward export reduced the risk of a halt to Ukrainian shipments via the EU.
* Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT grain and soy futures contracts on Thursday, traders said.
MARKET NEWS
* A gauge of global stocks was poised for its biggest daily percentage drop in two weeks on Thursday as a sharp decline in Tesla shares weighed while softening U.S. economic data and growing worries about the debt ceiling pushed Treasury yields lower.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0600 UK Retail Sales MM, YY March 0600 UK Retail Sales Ex-Fuel MM March 0715 France S&P Global Mfg, Serv, Comp Flash PMIs April 0730 Germany S&P Global Mfg, Serv, Comp Flash PMIs April 0800 EU S&P Global Mfg, Serv, Comp Flash PMIs April 0830 UK Flash Comp, Mfg, Serv PMIs April 1345 US S&P Global Mfg, Serv, Comp Flash PMIs April (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
