GRAINS-Soy, corn slide on crop weather, economy worries

* U.S. soy, corn fall on concerns over economy

* Favourable weather boosts corn, soy crops

* Wheat falls, hovers at 8-month lows on supply glut (Adds details, quotes)

SINGAPORE, Aug 17 - New-crop Chicago soybean futures slipped 1 percent to a 2-week low on Monday and corn lost 1.5 percent as near-perfect U.S. crop weather combined with gloomy economic data to drag down the grain markets.

Commodities, including industrial metals and oil, extended losses after the Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers showed consumer confidence in early August had dropped to its lowest level since March. [ID:nN14294408]

"Weaker consumer data in the U.S. was a sort of big wake-up call for the markets," said Ben Barber, a commodities broker at Bell Commodities in Melbourne.

"There has been a lot of hype for the last few weeks that everything is going to be fine and recovery is taking place. Now people are realising that we are not out of the worst."

Forecasts indicate plenty of rain and heat across the U.S. Midwest which are ideal conditions to promote corn and soybean growth and yields. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has already projected near-record corn and soybean harvests this autumn.

"Mostly dry conditions or a few light showers in the east, showers and thunderstorms across central and western areas," said DTN Meteorlogix in its latest forecast for the Midwest soybean crop. [ID:nDTN734]

Analysts said more-than-expected soybean deliveries in the physical market also weighed on the futures prices as they indicated old-crop supplies might not be all that tight. "You had a lot of old-crop come into the cash market, a lot more than what was expected," said Barber. "People have started to think, well, the supply situation may not be as tight as everyone thought." Spot basis bids for soybeans plunged while corn bids were steady to weak at processors and elevators around the U.S. Midwest on Friday, dealers said. Soy bids fell by as much as 71-½ cents per bushel along the Illinois River as heavy deliveries weighed on the market. [ID:nN14302344]

New-crop November soybean futures fell 1 percent to $9.71-½ a bushel by 0332 GMT, while the front-month September contract lost 1.5 percent to $10.09 a bushel.

December corn was down 1.5 percent at $3.23 a bushel and September corn fell 1.1 percent to $3.15-½ a bushel. The crush data from National Oilseed Processors Association was also bearish on Friday. It reported the July soy crush at 120.920 million bushels, far below the average analysts' estimate of 130.4 million. In July 2008, U.S. soybean crushing was 133.034 million bushels [ID:nWNA1417] [ID:nN13253379].

Good demand on the export market has supported soybean futures during the past few months but the foreign buying has priced local processors out of the market.

China's Dalian soybean futures fell, with most-active May contract easing more than 3 percent by midday, in line with losses in CBOT since Friday. Wheat edged lower to trade around 8-month low as the market is under pressure from growing global supplies amid weak demand for U.S. wheat.

September wheat fell 0.4 percent to $4.80 a bushel. Last week wheat lost 1.6 percent. PRICES AT 0332 GMT Contract Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI CBOT wheat 480.00 -1.75 -0.36% -0.31% 511.61 37 CBOT corn 315.50 -3.75 -1.17% -2.77% 330.58 39 CBOT soy 1009.00 -15.50 -1.51% -15.01% 1096.72 35 CBOT rice $13.54 $0.24 +1.80% +1.16% $13.33 54 WTI crude $67.01 -$0.50 -0.74% -4.98%

$66.25 47 Currencies

Euro/dlr $1.415 -$0.002 -0.17% -0.35% USD/AUD 0.824 -0.006 -0.68% -1.06% Front month contracts Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight