FOB Gulf corn and soyabean steady; wheat firm

US FOB Gulf corn and soyabean basis offers were steady on Wednesday, with brisk export demand and slow movement supporting both markets.
Soft red winter wheat basis offers for old-crop April and May positions gained 1 cent per bushel on good demand, while hard wheat offers firmed amid a snap tender by the Commodity Credit Corp to buy 30,000 tonnes for donation to Sudan.
The agency said offers were due on Thursday, and set shipment for April 21-26.
"Offers firmed up after the tender came out," one dealer said.
There was talk that Mexico bought two cargoes of US soyabeans and that the country was looking for another two cargoes, dealers said.
"One commercial (exporter) was saying Mexico bought two cargoes of old crop beans," a dealer said.
"It could have been in-house business," he said, referring to a transaction between two entities of the same company such as one operating in the United States and the other in Mexico.
The talk helped to fuel steep gains in CBOT futures, with old-crop May rising 41-1/2 cents to $10.13 a bushel. Fund buying was largely behind the rally, dealers said.
Dealers said basis values in the CIF barge market, which feeds exporters at the Gulf, were higher as domestic processors raised their bids to compete with shippers for supplies.
"There's good domestic demand," one CIF dealer said.
The pick up in processor demand comes amid a slowdown in movement as farmers complete fieldwork or are busy planting their corn crop amid a warm-up in Midwest weather.
Adding to the bullish tone was a truck drivers' strike at Argentina's main ports that was slowing loadings, but exporters have avoided shipment delays by using up stocks at hand.
Global export demand seasonally turns to Brazil and Argentina from March as their freshly-harvested soyabeans that are cheaper than US supplies begin to hit the market.
Corn basis values held steady, with dealers reporting fresh export demand and continued slow farmer selling.
They said Mexico bought 40,000 tonnes of US corn, and was in the market for another one to two cargoes. Israel is in the market for 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes of corn in combination with other commodities for May and first-half June shipment.
One dealer said rising corn prices in Argentina were making US supplies competitive again in the export market. "Their prices have gone up 40 cents the past week," he said.