Reuters (08/10/2018) - Oct 8 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean prices rose for a second consecutive session on Monday, hitting their highest in more than six weeks as rains in parts of the U.S. Midwest delay the harvest of what is expected to be a record crop.

Wheat gained more ground as tightening supply in the Black Sea region is expected to push up demand for U.S. shipments.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 0.3 percent at $8.71-1/4 a bushel by 0218 GMT, after earlier touching its highest since Aug. 22 at $8.75. Soybean prices firmed 1.1 percent on Friday.

Wheat rose 0.6 percent to $5.24 a bushel, adding to Friday’s gain of 0.6 percent. Corn was up 0.1 percent at $3.68-3/4 a bushel, having gained 0.2 percent in the last session.

Rains across the U.S. Midwest are delaying harvesting and stoking fears of crop damage.

“Looks like soybeans are being supported by Midwest rains,” said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney. “Unseasonal rains can damage the ripe soybean crop which is ready for harvest.”

Soybeans dropped to a 10-year low last month as a trade war between Washington and Beijing curbs exports from the United States, the No. 2 supplier, to China, the world biggest importer.

Forward sales of the new Brazilian soybean crop are well ahead of last year’s levels, as farmers take advantage of favourable prices and the Sino-U.S. trade dispute to clinch deals early in the season, consultancy Safras & Mercado said on Friday.

Brazilian soybean producers have sold 27.3 percent of the crop that will start to be collected around January, compared with 14.1 percent that had been sold at this time last year, Safras said in a report.

China soymeal futures climbed more than 2.5 percent on Monday morning to a record 3,457 yuan ($501.37) per tonne amid ongoing concerns about the trade war.

Wheat continues to draw support from fears Russia will limit exports from 30 grain loading points in two of the country’s top exporting regions.

Large speculators trimmed their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week to Oct. 2, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in CBOT wheat and trimmed their net short position in soybeans. (Reporting by Naveen Thukral Editing by Joseph Radford)