GRAINS-Chicago soy, wheat rise ahead of USDA report; corn unchanged

BEIJING, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures rose for a second straight session on Monday, bolstered by rising oil prices and continued Chinese purchases of U.S. beans.

Wheat also edged higher as traders took positions ahead of the much-anticipated U.S. Department of Agriculture's crop report, while corn remained unchanged.

FUNDAMENTALS

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 rose 0.09% to $10.63-1/2 a bushel by 0110 GMT.

CBOT wheat Wv1 gained 0.24% to $5.18-1/2 a bushel. Corn Cv1 was flat at $4.45-3/4 a bushel.

China has been steadily purchasing U.S. soybeans following a trade truce in late October.

On Friday, Sinograin purchased at least 10 cargoes of U.S. soybeans, moving closer to fulfilling a commitment to buy 12 million metric tons of the latest U.S. soybean harvest by the end of February.

On Tuesday, Sinograin will auction 1.1 million tons of imported soybeans as the state stockpiler works to make room for arriving U.S. shipments.

Oil prices extended gains on Monday on growing concerns that intensifying protests in Iran could disrupt supply from the OPEC producer. O/R

Soyoil often tracks crude oil prices because it is used in biofuel as a substitute for fossil fuel.

Brazilian farmers have harvested 0.53% of the country's expected 2025/2026 soybean area, compared to 0.05% at this time last year, consultancy firm Patria AgroNegocios said on Friday.

Grain analysts expect the USDA to lower its projections for U.S. soybean export demand in the current crop year due to weaker sales to China.

The agency is also anticipated to lower estimates for U.S. corn and soybean harvests, in part reflecting dry autumn weather.

For wheat, traders said it was too early in the year for dry weather to impact U.S. winter wheat yields and that crop conditions still looked relatively good in the Plains.

Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn, soybeans, wheat, traders said on Friday. CBOT/FUNDS