SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Grains futures were mixed on the bellwether Chicago
Board of Trade in Asian trading Monday, with rice extending Friday's sharp
gains while corn and wheat futures were mixed, with expectations of bumper
harvests in the U.S. continuing to cap any upside potential, traders said.

  At 0742 GMT, CBOT's November rice contract was up 19.00 U.S. cents in
electronic trading in very thin volume at $13.95 a hundredweight, following a
36.50-cent rise Friday.

  The market is continuing to monitor expectations of drought-related damage to
India's rice crop, and thin volume has increased the potential for volatility,
traders said.

  Despite the lingering concerns about the India crop, however - India has been
a key exporter of parboiled rice to African nations - the general outlook for
harvests in other exporting countries is favorable, the London-based
International Grains Council said in a report issued over the weekend.

  Expectations of good harvests along with generally ample stockpiles following
government intervention programs and the implementation of food security
measures could lead to a decline in the global rice trade by around 3% this
year to 28.9 million tons, the IGC said.

  For other grains, expectations of bumper crops in the U.S. in the weeks and
months ahead resulted in sluggish trade Monday, and will likely continue to
weigh on sentiment in coming sessions, traders said.

  At 0745 GMT, the September corn contract was 0.75 cent lower in e-CBOT
trading at $3.2025/bushel.

  Rain in key U.S. growing regions and an absence of frost are already leading
to forecasts of a potential record U.S. corn crop this year, which combined
with already large inventories means corn will likely struggle to find any
upward momentum, traders said.

  Wheat prices were also weaker Monday - at 0745 GMT the December contract was
down 2.75 cents at $4.9250/bushel - again with traders citing ample stocks and
weak U.S. export demand for the decline.

  In Australia, however, agribusiness AWB Ltd. (AWB.AU) Monday said there are
signs that a long decline in world wheat prices could be stabilizing, with
several positive influences at work.

  World wheat prices have fallen in response to two years of high production,
but farmers in the Northern Hemisphere sowed a lot less wheat this year due to
the drop in prices, AWB General Manager Commodities Mitch Morison said in a
statement.

  With wheat prices so cheap, farmers will sow less again for next season, with
customers starting to get a little nervous at what this might mean for supplies
next year, he said.

  In China, wheat prices in the country's major producing areas were higher in
the week to Monday, with participants citing an uptick in demand for flour on
the back of cooler weather and the reopening of schools after the summer break.

  Wheat prices in Hengshui in Hebei province were at CNY1,920-CNY1,940 a metric
ton, compared with CNY1,920/ton a week earlier.