* Corn stays above $7 as dry Brazil weather in focus
    * Soybeans near 8-1/2 year top as market eyes more U.S.
acres
    * Wheat eases as rain reaches some U.S. and European belts

 
    By Gus Trompiz and Naveen Thukral
    PARIS/SINGAPORE, May 6 (Reuters) - Chicago corn extended a
rally on Thursday to a fresh eight-year high as dry weather
threatened harvest yields in major exporter Brazil and kept the
focus on ebbing global supplies.
    Soybeans also rose further to approach an 8-1/2 year peak,
buoyed by rallying vegetable oil prices.
    Wheat turned lower as corn pared earlier gains while traders
also assessed potentially beneficial rain in some U.S. and
European wheat belts.
    The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade
(CBOT) was up 0.6% at $7.13 a bushel by 1153 GMT. It
earlier touched another high since March 2013 at $7.22-1/2. 
    "The sentiment is pretty bullish, not just in corn but the
entire grains complex," said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness
economist at National Australia Bank.
    "There are a lot of weather events globally, which are
supporting prices, although the market has yet to see any real
supply shock."
    World food prices increased for an 11th consecutive month in
April to a near-seven year high, the United Nations food agency
said on Thursday.
    Weather forecasts continued to show little rain for parched
southern Brazil in the coming two weeks.
    Brazil's cereal exporter association Anec on Wednesday said
the country would ship some 32 million tonnes of corn this year,
1.6 million tonnes less than in 2020.
    Traders will be watching weekly U.S. export data later on
Thursday for a sign of whether high prices are curbing demand.

    China cancelled purchases of 140,000 tonnes of U.S. corn for
delivery in the 2020/2021 marketing year, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) said on Wednesday. 
    But the USDA also reported that exporters sold 184,100
tonnes of U.S. corn to Mexico and 147,320 tonnes to unknown
buyers.
    CBOT soybeans rose 1.1% to $15.59 a bushel.
    A 13-year high for palm oil, against a backdrop of tight
global edible oil supplies, bolstered soybeans.
    Impetus in soy and corn prices also reflected the need to
incite extra plantings by U.S. farmers to replenish stocks,
traders said.
    CBOT wheat was down 0.7% at $7.39 a bushel.
    

    
 Prices at 1153 GMT                                                  
                               Last  Change    Pct  End 2020  Ytd Pct
                                              Move               Move
  CBOT wheat                 739.00   -5.50  -0.74    640.50    15.38
  CBOT corn                  713.00    4.50   0.64    484.00    47.31
  CBOT soy                  1559.00   16.75   1.09   1311.00    18.92
  Paris wheat Sep            225.25   -1.00  -0.44    192.50    17.01
  Paris maize Jun            254.00    3.00   1.20    198.75    27.80
  Paris rape Aug             529.25    7.00   1.34    393.00    34.67
  WTI crude oil               65.25   -0.38  -0.58     48.52    34.48
  Euro/dlr                     1.20    0.00   0.36    1.2100    -0.43
 Most active contracts - Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel, Paris
 futures in euros per tonne
 
    
    

 (Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in
Singapore; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Edmund Blair)