Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans eased at terminals along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers on Thursday, pressured by higher shipping costs on the waterways, grain merchants said. The basis for each crop was steady to firm at interior points - corn bids rose 10 cents per bushel at an Illinois elevator and soya by that amount at an Iowa elevator - as the drop in futures to multi-month lows chilled farmer sales.
Freight costs gained on Midwest rivers amid the seasonal squeeze for empty vessels as shippers sent barges of freshly harvested supplies to export terminals on the US Gulf Coast. A weak corn basis in the CIF barge market also weighed on bids for the grain while a firm CIF soya basis capped declines in the US Midwest. Many farmers were turning their attention from the corn harvest to soyabeans, with soya yields generally normal or above-normal, compared to widely disappointing corn yields after the worst drought in half of a century reduced crop potential.

Copyright Reuters, 2012

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