GRAINS-Wheat hits 6-month top on worries Russia may limit grain exports

* Rouble weakness may spark Russia grain export curb

* Soy falls on South American crop prospects, weakness in

meal

* Corn retreats from Monday's 5-month high on profit-taking

(Adds closing prices))

By Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO, Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 16 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat

futures climbed to a six-month high Tuesday on lingering fears

that Russia might seek to curb grain exports as a result of

pressure on the rouble.

Soybeans fell on improving South American crop prospects and

softening values for soymeal while corn retreated from

multimonth highs set a day earlier.

At the CBOT, March wheat settled up 4-1/4 cents at

$6.23-1/4 after touching $6.39, the highest spot price since May

29. The market pared earlier gains as traders took profits.

January soybeans ended down 16 cents at $10.23-1/2 a

bushel and March corn fell 2-1/2 cents to end at $4.06 a

bushel.

Russia's economic woes remained the focus among wheat

traders. Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov said that Russia,

one of the world's key wheat exporters, would only use its grain

restocking program to regulate exports, which are running at a

record pace due to a slump in the rouble.

But analysts speculated that runaway inflation might force

the government to take stronger action to protect domestic bread

prices.

"I think the minister is quite honest when he says this, but

life can force him to change his mind," said Andrey Sizov, the

head of SovEcon agriculture consultancy.

In a possible sign of export restrictions, Russia's

Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service restricted

grain export certificates for some countries, trade sources

said.

CBOT soybeans fell, led by soymeal amid softening South

American cash meal values, traders said. Additional pressure

stemmed from favorable weather in South America that is

bolstering prospects for developing soy crops.

"We are not losing any of the bean crop in Brazil," said

Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics.

Traders shrugged at news that Chinese buyers signed

contracts to purchase more than 1 million tonnes of U.S.

soybeans at a ceremony in Chicago, a relatively modest amount

for the world's top soy customer.

CBOT corn set back from a five-month high set Monday as

traders booked profits and farmers took advantage of the rally,

selling portions of their record large 2014 harvest.

"Producer selling is really limiting the ability of corn and

soy to rally," said Austin Damiani, a broker with Frontier

Futures in Minneapolis.

Prices at 1444 CST (2044 GMT):

LAST NET PCT YTD

CHG CHG PCT CHG

CBOT corn 406.00 -2.50 -0.6 -3.9

CBOT soy 1023.50 -16.00 -1.5 -22.1

CBOT meal 356.60 -8.80 -2.4 -18.6

CBOT soyoil 31.77 -0.50 -1.6 -18.1

CBOT wheat 623.25 4.25 0.7 2.5

(Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral and Nigel Hunt; editing

by Prateek Chatterjee, Jane Merriman, G Crosse and Chizu

Nomiyama)