Asia Grains-Australia sells 20,000 T wheat, Malaysia buys corn

* Australia sells soft wheat to Southeast Asia

* Malaysian buys 60,000 T corn from Brazil

* Rains boost India's corn crop, raise export hopes

* Pakistan corn prices rise; Japan buys 117,000 T wheat

SINGAPORE, Sept 17 - Australia sold 20,000 tonnes of soft white wheat to Southeast Asia this week, while Malaysia bought 60,000 tonnes of Brazilian corn as Pakistani prices rose.

Australia sold wheat at around $225 a tonne, including cost and freight, slightly lower than $230 to $335 a tonne quoted a few weeks ago for shipment in January.

"Prices are coming down as Australian crop prospects have improved," said one regional trader based in Singapore. "Now everyone is looking at Australia wheat, there will not be much interest for U.S. wheat cargoes at this stage."

Australia this week raised its 2009/10 wheat crop forecast by 3.4 percent to 22.72 million tonnes, after rain boosted crops in the top producing state of Western Australia as well as southern Australia.

Australia's prime hard wheat is selling for $260 a tonne C&F, U.S. soft white wheat is priced at $235 and hard red winter $250 a tonne. While U.S. hard red spring in containers is available in Asia for $288-$290, Australia prime wheat is being offered at $235 a tonne.

Japan's farm ministry purchased 117,000 tonnes of milling wheat from the United States, Australia and Canada as planned in a tender, a ministry official said on Thursday.

South Korean flour miller CJ Cheiljedang purchased 21,500 tonnes of U.S. wheat for November shipping from Cargill.

Malaysia bought 60,000 tonnes of corn from Brazil at around $210 a tonne C&F for arrival in December, while Pakistan and Thailand sold around 20,000 tonnes of October shipment corn to Southeast Asia.

"Pakistani corn sales have slowed down as prices have gone up to around $200 a tonne from $190 levels last month," said another Singapore-based trader who sells Thai and Pakistani corn to Malaysia and Vietnam.

"And you can't export large quantities from Thailand because the whole process takes a long time, you have to tender and then check the quality."

Together, Thailand and Pakistan were selling some 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes of corn a week in August.

But South Korea's biggest feedmaker, Nonghyup Feed, passed on a tender to buy up to 110,000 tonnes of corn after benchmark Chicago Board of Trade prices shot up 9 percent on Monday as forecasts of frost threatened to cut yields.

Traders said India's corn crop prospects have improved as growing regions received widespread rains in the past weeks. "There is potential for a good harvest," the Singapore trader said. "Exports may be delayed, we may not get Indian corn in November or December, but by January they will have to sell."

Earlier, traders and analysts expected India's corn exports to drop sharply or even grind to a halt as the country's worst monsoon in nearly four decades threatened to decimate output.