US FOB Gulf corn and soyabean basis offers held mostly steady on Tuesday but export demand remained weak despite rising soyabean prices in South America, traders said. Wheat export premiums sank due to pressure from the approaching harvest of a new-crop in June and few sales lately.
There was talk that Iraq bought a large amount of wheat from the Canadian Wheat Board at prices at least 50 cents a bushel below US HRW wheat values. "I know the Canadians showed a pretty aggressive price," said a US wheat trader. "They will take a massive loss with anything they carry into new-crop."
Canada offered Iraq hard red spring wheat with 12.0 to 12.5 percent protein, traders said. Iraq was expected to purchase 150,000 to 450,000 tonnes of wheat in the tender, traders said. The market shrugged off a tender from Egypt's GASC seeking wheat for shipment April 21-30. French wheat or wheat from the Black Sea region remains much cheaper than US SRW wheat, traders said.
Soyabean export demand remained weak but traders said that US soyabeans were close to being competitive with supplies from Argentina and Brazil. Basis values in Brazil and Argentina have risen recently, due to rain delaying the harvest Brazil and a farmer strike in Argentina that has shut the main port of Rosario for four days. The strike was due to end Wednesday but one of the leaders told Reuters it would continue indefinitely to protest increased government taxes on soyabeans, soyameal and soyaoil.
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