SINGAPORE  - Chicago soybean futures rose for a second session on Wednesday with expectations of renewed Chinese purchases supporting the market.

Wheat gained after two days of losses, while corn also rose.

The Chicago Board of Trade most-active soybean contract rose 0.4% to $9.37-3/4 a bushel by 0334 GMT, wheat added 0.3% to $5.19-1/2 a bushel and corn gained 0.3% at 3.89-1/4 a bushel.

Beijing on Tuesday offered major Chinese and international soybean processors waivers that would exempt the companies from steep tariffs on imports of up to 10 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans, according to two people briefed on the matter.

The waivers, however, failed to unleash a flood of immediate buying as U.S. prices remained too high, according to U.S. export traders. Market conditions have continued to determine Chinese buying in recent weeks despite U.S. President Donald Trump's assurances of a wave of imminent sales.

"There is talk of Chinese buying which is supportive for prices, but the upside potential is limited," said one Singapore-based grains trader. "China's soymeal demand has been hit by African swine fever."

China's pig herd in September was 41.1% smaller than it was a year earlier, the agriculture ministry said on Monday, as a year-long African swine fever epidemic continued to slash the world's largest herd.

Forecasts for normal- to below-normal precipitation for a large part of the U.S. farm belt over the next two weeks should allow for more active harvesting in most areas.

Drought across most Ukrainian regions is likely to reduce the area sown in the 2020 winter grain harvest, the head of Ukraine's state weather forecasting centre said on Tuesday.

Ukraine and Russia, its main rival on Black Sea grain exports, have been both looking for more rains this autumn. In Russia, though, warm and rainy weather has speeded up sowing in recent weeks.

Commodity funds were net buyers of Chicago Board of Trade corn, soybean and soyoil futures contracts on Tuesday and net sellers of wheat and soymeal futures, traders said.    

(Reporting by Naveen Thukral, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Shounak Dasgupta)

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