GRAINS-Soybean futures rise with China's demand in focus

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rose on Friday and were on track for a weekly gain, bolstered by higher oil prices and continued Chinese demand for U.S. supplies.

Wheat and corn futures were nearly unchanged after reaching their highest levels in more than a week on Thursday.

Traders were monitoring investor flows linked to annual changes in the composition of commodity indexes and looking ahead to widely tracked supply and demand data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday.

"Traders will wait to see what the USDA gives us on Monday to make their next move," Cory Bratland, a hedging strategist for AgMarket.Net, said in a note.

The most-active CBOT soybean contract Sv1 was up 1-3/4 cents at $10.63 a bushel by 12:30 p.m. CST (1830 GMT).

Exporters sold 198,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans to China, the USDA said in a daily reporting system, after it reported sales of 132,000 tons of U.S. soybeans to China on Thursday.

Traders have closely tracked China's demand after U.S. officials said the world's biggest importer agreed to buy 12 million tons of American supplies as part of a late-October trade truce.

Soybean byproduct soyoil BOv1 also rose, supported by firm crude oil prices linked to concerns over possible supply disruptions in Iran and Russia. O/R

Soyoil often tracks crude because it can be used in biofuel as a substitute for fossil fuel.

CBOT wheat Wv1 was down 1/4 cent at $5.17-3/4 a bushel, and CBOT corn Cv1 was flat at $4.46 a bushel. Both grains were set for weekly gains.

The USDA's reports on Monday will include estimates for winter wheat plantings and last year's corn and soybean harvests. The agency is widely expected to trim its estimate of the average corn yield in last year's U.S. harvest, and peg the winter wheat area for 2026 at below last year's level.

Ample global supply continued to loom over grain markets despite mixed weather conditions in some zones.