US FOB Gulf corn and soyabean basis offers were mostly steady on Tuesday, while soft red winter wheat lacked definition, traders said. Export demand for corn remains brisk with both Taiwan and South Korea buying US corn overnight for feed production. Israel tenders Wednesday to buy either US or Argentine corn.
"We're humming along. It's been active," said a corn trader.
Fewer barges loaded with corn were making their way to the Gulf. Country movement has slowed as farmers focus on planting spring crops.
"It feels like the pipeline is tightening up a little bit," the corn trader said.
Export premiums for soft red winter wheat were hard to pin down after a recent drop in prices in the CIF barge market due to Chicago futures prices hitting a 3-1/2-year high.
The market is also pressured by the approaching harvest of a new crop and export demand slowing to a near standstill, traders said.
Export premiums for hard red winter wheat were steady, supported by concerns that farmers will harvest a small crop this year due to drought and hot weather. But export demand is still limited to captive customers due to high US prices, traders said.
In export news, Wheat Australia said the collapse of a deal to sell 350,000 tonnes of wheat to Iraq would not prohibit new sales being struck in Iraq's tender for 1.5 million tonnes.
Traders crom India's tender to buy 3 million tonnes of wheat. Pakistan has emerged as a new contender for the business.
Pakistan wants to export wheat for the first time in more than two years and will bid to sell grain to its long-time rival India, a Pakistani government official said.
South Korean flour millers will tender on Wednesday to buy 23,000 tonnes of US wheat for shipment July 10 to August 10. Japan is holding a weekly tender for July shipment of wheat.
Soyabean export premiums were steady, supported by a lack of farmer selling, traders said.
Brazil and Argentina continue to dominate the export market as they near the end of their harvests.
Economic conditions for soyabean farmers in Brazil have improved slightly, although they are still much worse than just a year ago. The dollar has gained sharply on the real this week, boosting farmers' income for soyabeans sold for export.
Brazil has postponed a government auction of 2 million tonnes of soyabean options until Thursday after the soya industry demanded more time to clarify bid rules, an agriculture ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The auction is an effort to improve prices for soyabean farmers who have been blocking roads for the past four weeks to press demands for more aid.
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