GRAINS-Chicago soybeans dip, grains edge higher as market weighs Middle East war

By Heather Schlitz

CHICAGO, March 24 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures dipped on Tuesday on technical selling, while corn and wheat ticked higher, as investors grappled with uncertainty over the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

Oil prices LCOc1 rose on Tuesday. They had plunged during the previous session following comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that he was postponing threatened strikes against Iranian power plants after progress in talks with Tehran. O/R

Iranian denials of negotiations with Washington, along with military strikes on Tuesday in the three-week war, tempered any hopes of de-escalation.

Grain and oilseed prices have broadly tracked fluctuations in crude oil during the conflict, reflecting the use of corn and soyoil in biofuels and investor interest in the crops as an inflation hedge.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade Sv1 settled 8-1/2 cents lower to $11.55 per bushel.

CBOT wheat Wv1 ended 2-1/4 cents higher to $5.90 per bushel, and corn Cv1 settled 3 cents higher at $4.62-1/2 per bushel.

The impact of the war on fertilizer markets, through disruption to Gulf shipping and soaring gas prices, could lead to knock-on effects on crop production, which relies on varying degrees of nutrients.

Export restrictions by non-Gulf fertilizer suppliers, including China and Russia, could add to short-term supply constraints.

Rising fuel and fertilizer prices may influence farmers' planting decisions, increasing interest in U.S. Department of Agriculture acreage estimates next week.

However, many farmers purchased their fertilizer for the 2026 planting season before the war's outbreak, which could limit the impact on farmers in the near term, said Jason Ward, director of Northstar Commodity.

Market expectations that farmers could trim plantings of input-intensive corn lent some support to the grain.

Wheat drew support from concerns about drought in the U.S. Plains and robust prices in the biggest exporter Russia, analysts said.