* Demand for U.S. soybean shipments supports prices
* Soybeans down 1% this week, fall for 3rd week in a row
* Corn, wheat futures edge lower ahead of U.S. report
SINGAPORE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Chicago soybeans rose on Friday as expectations of higher demand for U.S. cargoes underpinned prices, although the market looked poised for a third weekly decline.
Corn and wheat lost ground ahead of a key U.S. supply-demand report due later in the day.
"Demand for U.S. soybeans is picking up which should provide some support to prices," said one Singapore-based trader. "Grain and oilseed markets are positioning for U.S. production estimates."
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) added 0.2% to $13.21-1/4 a bushel, as of 0520 GMT. Corn lost 0.2% to $4.95-1/2 a bushel and wheat gave up 0.1% to $6.37-1/4 a bushel.
Soybeans are down nearly 1% this week and heading for a third weekly loss, while wheat and corn are largely unchanged.
Analysts on average project the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates will trim the forecast for U.S. soybean and corn production.
The corn harvest could still be the second largest on record, with weather conditions seen turning more favourable.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said early Thursday that export sales of soybeans totalled 1.503 million metric tons in the week ended Aug. 3. Analysts had predicted a weekly total between 300,000 metric tons and 1.8 million metric tons.
China, the top buyer of the oilseed, accounted for 767,800 metric tons, reflecting a recent string of deals.
Corn export sales of 908,800 metric tons were in line with expectations of 275,000 metric tons to 1.2 million metric tons. Wheat export sales of 561,200 metric tons topped the high-end of forecasts that ranged from 200,000 to 500,000 metric tons.
In news, Ukraine announced a "humanitarian corridor" on Thursday to let cargo ships trapped in its ports sail into the Black Sea, suggesting a response to Russia's recent withdrawal from a grain corridor agreement.
There is a more than 95% chance that El Niño conditions will prevail from December 2023 to February 2024, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday, exacerbating the risks of heatwaves and floods across several countries.
Argentina farmers have finished sowing 6 million hectares (14.8 million acres) of wheat, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Thursday, warning that dry conditions are starting to affect the 2023/24 crop in the north of the country.
Some 11% of the planted area is beginning to show signs of water stress, the exchange said in a weekly crop report, due to lack of rainfall in the north.
Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT soybean, soymeal and corn futures contracts on Thursday, traders said. The funds were net even in soyoil and wheat futures.
(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
