US Midwest corn and soyabean bids steady to higher

Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans were steady to higher around the US Midwest early Wednesday as dealers piggybacked on a futures market rally to try to spur country movement, grain dealers said.
But sales were expected to stay slow as farmers held out for another mutual fund-driven rally in the futures market that would push cash prices even higher. "If you can put a nickel in corn yesterday, by gosh, you can put a dime in today," a dealer in southern Ohio said. "That's the way the producer is thinking."
Spot bids for wheat steadied, after falling for the past week because of low demand in the export market. But private exporters reported the sale of 100,000 tonnes of US hard red winter wheat to Iraq, the Agriculture Department said Wednesday.
River dealers, who began posting grain bids this week for the first time since the northern stretches of Midwest rivers closed for the winter, said farmers had not started bringing grain to their facilities yet. Those dealers tightened bids slightly to generate farmer interest.
Cash prices for corn and soyabeans were still well below targets that farmers set for their crops last fall, dealers said. Farmers were hoping that technical rallies in the futures market, despite bearish fundamentals, would lead to higher cash prices.
A winter storm that hit the region this week was still limiting movement in the country, even though the snow had stopped falling. Most farmers were reluctant to haul grain until the roads cleared completely. The storm dumped more than a foot of snow in western parts of the region, which caused dealers in those areas to sharply raise their basis bids.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, soft red winter wheat futures were called 1 cent to 2 cents per bushel higher. Traders said follow-through technical buying was predicted after Tuesday's firm close.
Corn futures were called 1/2 cent to 1 cent per bushel higher. Soyabean futures were expected to open 2 cents to 3 cents per bushel higher. Traders forecast a technical bounce after the market fell to near oversold technical levels.