CHICAGO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures closed lower on Friday, retreating on a lack of follow-through buying after the benchmark March contract hit its highest level in nearly two weeks.

• CBOT March soybeans SH25 settled down 7-1/2 cents at $9.89-3/4 per bushel, turning lower after a climb to $9.98-1/4 in early moves. For the week, the March contract rose 10-1/2 cents a bushel or 1.07%.

• The spot January soybean contract SF25, which expires on Jan. 14, ended Friday down 8 cents at $9.80 a bushel.

• CBOT March soymeal SMH25 fell $4.40 to end at $310.50 per short ton while March soyoil BOH25 rose 0.12 cent to settle at 40.00 cents per pound.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export sales of U.S. 2024/25 soybeans in the week to Dec. 19 at 978,400 metric tons, below a range of trade expectations for 1.0 million to 1.8 million tons. EXP/SOY

• Strong soybean crop prospects in top global supplier Brazil continue to hang over the market, capping rallies. But traders were monitoring drier outlooks for Argentina.

• Argentina's Buenos Aires Grains Exchange trimmed its soybean planting area estimate for the 2024/25 season to 18.4 million hectares, a reduction of 200,000 hectares from the prior estimate.

• Bunge Global said it was restarting a soybean processing plant in Cairo, Illinois, after a fire in a conveyor belt shuttered the facility on Thursday.

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; editing by Diane Craft)

((Julie.ingwersen@thomsonreuters.com; 1-313-484-5283; Reuters Messaging: julie.ingwersen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))