GRAINS-Soybeans corn rebound as Iran war lifts oil prices

SINGAPORE, March 30 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean and corn rose on Monday, recouping some of the previous session's losses, underpinned by higher crude oil prices as a widening U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran lifted energy markets.

Wheat gained ground after closing largely unchanged in the last session.

FUNDAMENTALS

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade Sv1 rose 0.5% to $11.64-1/2 a bushel, as of 0020 GMT, corn Cv1 added 0.5% to $4.64-1/2 a bushel and wheat Wv1 gained 0.7% at $6.09 a bushel.

Oil prices extended gains on Monday, with Brent headed for a record monthly rise, after Yemeni Houthis launched their first attacks on Israel over the weekend, widening the U.S.-Israel war with Iran in the Middle East. O/R

Agricultural products such as soybeans and corn often take direction from energy markets amid growing use of farm goods in making alternative fuels.

The Trump administration ordered U.S. refiners on Friday to blend a record amount of biofuels into their gasoline and diesel this year and next, a move intended to help farmers but that the refining industry said would only backfire by raising pump prices already spiking due to the war in Iran.

There are concerns about knock-on effects on crop production from rising energy and fertiliser prices.

The war has upended the planting intentions of U.S. farmers, resulting in fewer acres of corn and the lowest quantity of spring wheat planted since 1970 as rising fertiliser and fuel costs and low grain prices dim the outlook for profits, analysts said ahead of a U.S. government report due on Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is due to release its annual prospective plantings report at 1600 GMT on Tuesday, its first survey-based crop acreage estimate of the year.

Analysts polled by Reuters, on average, projected corn plantings to drop to 94.371 million acres, down from 98.788 million acres in 2025, which was the most since 1936. Soybean seedings were seen at 85.549 million acres, up from 81.215 million a year ago.

Plantings of spring wheat, grown in the northern Plains, are forecast to drop to 9.843 million acres, down from 9.990 million last year and the lowest since 1970.

Large speculators raised their net long position in CBOT corn futures in the week to March 24, 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 cut their net long position in soybeans.

MARKET NEWS

Stock futures slid in Asia on Monday as investors dug in for a protracted Gulf conflict that already has oil prices heading for a record monthly rise, bringing a spike in inflation and the risk of recession to much of the globe. MKTS/GLOB

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

1000 EU Consumer Confid. Final Mar

1200 Germany CPI Prelim YY Mar

1200 Germany HCIP Prelim YY Mar