Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans were mostly steady around the US Midwest early on Tuesday, but river dealers raised bids slightly due to improving export demand.
Farmer selling was expected to be slow around the region as cash prices have fallen well below targets set by farmers. Most farmers were unwilling to lower their offers, despite the recent erosion in cash prices. "Same story, different day," an Iowa dealer said. "Cash flow does not seem to be an issue right now."
Farmers were holding out for soyabean prices to improve to $6 per bushel, a level that has not been reached around much of the region for weeks. Soybean prices were about 50 cents below the 2006 highs hit early in January and have been fluctuating within a 25-cent range for the past month.
Prices rallied to the high end of that range last week, which fuelled farmers' hopes of another rally that could push prices to the key $6 per bushel level.
Corn sales have been steadier, with prices around $2 per bushel in much of the region. But farmers still had plenty of corn from last fall's harvest left in their storage bins.
Basis bids along Midwest rivers rose as US soyabeans became more attractive to the export market, due to shipping delays and slow farmer sales in Brazil. China, the world's top soya importer, has switched up to six cargoes to the United States from Brazil, traders said.
The slowdown in farmer sales of corn in the US Midwest led to higher corn bids along rivers.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, corn futures were called 1/2 cent to 1 cent per bushel lower on worries about the spread of bird flu and abundant stocks.
Soyabean futures were called to open 1 cent to 2 cents per bushel lower, also on bird flu fears and plentiful stocks. Traders said follow-through technical selling after the lower close on Monday also was expected to weigh on prices.
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