US FOB Gulf corn basis offers were steady on Thursday, while soyabeans were higher as exporters and processors competed for new crop supplies.
Dealers said soft red winter wheat basis offers were higher amid tight old crop supplies and as rains delayed the harvest in parts of the Midwest.
Soybean basis offers were sharply higher amid brisk demand from domestic processors and exporters and tight supplies.
"Farmers are not selling anything and there's good demand from processors. Prices in the interior markets are strong," one dealer said. "Exporters are also buying some."
There has been talk that some domestic processors are likely to run out of soyabeans in about two weeks, forcing them to scramble for the limited supplies of old crop soyabeans.
USDA said net export sales of old crop soyabeans last week totalled a mere 4,500 tonnes, after Turkey cancelled 17,000 tonnes. Unknown buyers scrapped another 28,000 tonnes.
The market remained focused on the turmoil in China, where cash-strapped processors were struggling to pay for up to 30 cargoes of South American supplies they had bought.
Dealers said some of the distressed cargoes on their way to China had been sold to new buyers, including processors in China not affected by the country's tightening of credit.
Corn basis offers were steady, but CBOT futures fell sharply amid poor export sales and concerns that export business was heading to Argentina, dealers said.
The dealers said Argentina corn was more than 20 cents a bushel cheaper than US supplies on a FOB basis, which does not include shipping costs.
USDA said export sales last week totalled 53,200 tonnes, a marketing year low and 87 percent below the previous week.
The agency said 329,300 tonnes sold to unknown destinations had been cancelled. There was speculation that the buyer was South Korea, whose main supplier China had cut back sales this year due to dwindling stocks, dealers said.
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