US Midwest corn, soya bids mostly steady

Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans were mostly steady to narrowly higher in the US Midwest on Thursday, underpinned by steep declines in futures that kept farmer sales to a minimum, grain merchants said. Corn bids gained at several terminals along Midwest rivers and at ethanol plants in Illinois and Iowa.
Soya bids were firm at an elevator along the lower Ohio River in Cincinnati and at an Illinois River terminal. Ample stockpiles weighed on the basis in a few locations despite the slow pace of farmer sales. Many farmers were working fields under dry weather conditions, limiting deliveries of existing supplies. Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures tumbled by as much as 2 percent and corn futures by about 1.7 percent as a declining Brazilian currency made grain and soya shipments out of South America more competitive in global markets.