Corn climbs as USDA projects U.S. stocks below expectations

By Renee Hickman

CHICAGO, May 10 (Reuters) - Chicago corn futures advanced on Friday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projected U.S. stockpiles of the grain below market expectations.

Soybeans followed corn higher, underpinned by worries about weather damage to Brazil's crop. Wheat futures rose to a fresh nine-month high as Russian wheat regions were hit by another night of frost.

Chicago Board of Trade July corn CN24 gained 11-1/4 cents to $4.67-3/4 a bushel by 12:37 CDT (1737 GMT) while July soybeans SN24 rose 9-1/4 cents to $12.17-3/4 a bushel.

The USDA on Friday said U.S. farmers would harvest their fourth largest crop ever and stocks would rise to a six-year high, but the outlook was below analyst expectations. Soybean stocks were seen at a five-year high.

The smaller-than-expected corn stocks shined a spotlight on weather-hampered planting in the U.S. Midwest.

“It should have been a bearish balance sheet for corn ... You throw in some summer weather risks and this does allow for some upside for prices,” said Rich Nelson, chief strategist at Allendale Inc.

Worries about crop damage due to floods in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state, and strikes at grain ports and crushing plants in Argentina also kept a firm floor under prices, analysts said.

Wheat futures gained as Russian authorities said that farmers in some areas hit by frosts this month will need to re-sow crops.

“It's too wet in Brazil. We had a frost again for the second night in a row in Russia pushing the wheat up,” said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities. "Weather is overshadowing the (USDA) report."

July wheat WN24 was up 20-3/4 cents at $6.58-1/4 after climbing to a nine-month peak of $6.60-3/4, the highest point for a most-active contract Wv1 since Aug. 8.

(Reporting by Renee Hickman and Karl Plume in Chicago; Additional reporting by Nigel Hunt in London and Mei Mei Chu in Beijing; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)