Corn export premiums at the US Gulf Coast weakened on Thursday as exporters had enough supplies at shipping terminals to satisfy their needs, traders said. Demand for US corn on the world market was poor due to cheaper supplies available from other countries, a trader said.
The high futures prices for corn deterred exporters from buying surplus supplies. Soyabean offers held steady, with the market propped up by routine demand from China, the world's top importer of the oilseed. Wheat offers also were unchanged, with dealings slow due to little interest from overseas buyers.
Low water on the Mississippi River from St. Louis to Cairo, Illinois, seen severely limiting, or even halting barge traffic on parts of the river by the middle of next month. Grain shipped by barge down the Illinois River also would be impacted. Trade sources said there were no firm bids for empty barges on the Mississippi River at St. Louis or the Illinois River starting the week of December 8 and lasting through February.
The worries about shipping grain down Midwest rivers kept nearby offers at a premium to deferreds for corn, soyabeans and wheat. CIF market values for November and December soyabeans surged amid talk of a slowdown in river traffic in the coming weeks. The US Agriculture Department said on Thursday morning that export sales of corn were 263,500 tonnes in the latest reporting week, below estimates for 450,000 to 650,000 tonnes. The sales total was down 69 percent from the previous week and 21 percent below the prior four-week average.
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