SINGAPORE: Chicago soybean futures gained ground on Monday with record edible oil prices driving gains, although ample supplies from the US harvest kept a lid on the market.

Corn and wheat futures were largely unchanged.

"Vegetable oil prices continue to be a source of impetus for (soybean) prices," said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade (CBOT) rose 0.2% to $12.46 a bushel, as of 0253 GMT. Corn was unchanged at $5.30-1/2 a bushel and wheat was unmoved at $7.34 a bushel.

Malaysian palm oil futures hit a record high of nearly 5,000 ringgit a tonne on Friday and posted a weekly gain of 10.2%, lifted by outlook for tight supplies. The market was largely unchanged on Monday.

Investors in the agricultural markets are awaiting a report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on production forecast, which is due on Tuesday.

Favourable weather across the US Midwest is boosting harvesting of corn and soybean crops.

Strong demand continues to support prices.

European Union wheat exports have surged in the early part of the 2021/22 season as strong importer demand, a falling euro and high Russian prices boosted EU shipments.

In China, heavy rain across northern areas last week has delayed the corn harvest, submerged fields in water and raised concerns about the quality of the crop in the world's second largest producer, analysts and farmers said on Friday.

Large speculators raised their net long position in CBOT corn futures in the week to Oct. 5, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and switched to a net short position in soybeans.