Soybeans up on U.S. biodiesel data; corn posts monthly decline

CHICAGO, July 31 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures rose on Friday for a second session as soyoil futures climbed nearly 2% on demand from the soy-based biodiesel fuel sector, traders said.

Corn futures ended fractionally higher while wheat futures firmed on end-of-month position-squaring.

Chicago Board of Trade November soybeans settled up 4-1/4 cents Friday at $8.92-1/2 per bushel. The contract rose about 1% for the month.

CBOT December corn settled up 1/4 cent at $3.27 a bushel and September wheat ended up 1-3/4 cents at $5.31-1/4 a bushel.

Soybeans got a lift from monthly U.S. Energy Information Administration data showing that the amount of soyoil used for biodiesel in May rose to 778 million pounds, up from 672 million a month earlier.

"The biodiesel figure for May was huge. It tells us the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) is probably going to take (their estimate of) soybean oil used for biodiesel use for this year up," said Terry Reilly, senior analyst with Futures International in Chicago.

The CBOT December and September soyoil contracts pushed through their respective 200-day moving averages, triggering buy stops, Reilly said.

Also, the CBOT reported no deliveries against August soybean futures on first notice day, a factor that supported the contract against back months on spreads.

Corn futures edged higher Friday but poised a monthly decline of nearly 7% as improving Midwest weather during July raised the likelihood of a bumper U.S. harvest, offsetting support from stepped-up grain sales to China.

The USDA on Thursday confirmed that Chinese buyers booked their single biggest purchase of U.S. corn, purchasing 1.937 million tonnes, the latest in a series of large U.S. purchases, even as tensions between Washington and Beijing rise.

"The USDA reporting hefty export sales to China did not result in a sustained price gain," noted Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. (Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral and Maytaal Angel; Editing by David Evans and Grant McCool)