US FOB Gulf corn basis offers were firm on Tuesday amid rising barge freight and slow farmer selling, while soyabeans were weak on harvest pressure.
Barge freight on rivers transporting grain to export terminals at the Gulf of Mexico continued to climb ahead of a likely record harvest this year of corn and soyabeans.
Soft and red winter wheat basis offers were mostly steady, with SRW wheat supported by fresh export sales.
Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) bought 60,000 tonnes of US soft red winter wheat at $134.09 per tonne FOB for September 11-20 shipment. GASC also bought 60,000 tonnes of French milling wheat at $138.24/tonne.
CBOT SRW wheat futures got no bounce from the sale to GASC, weighed by prospects of rising global wheat production that has raised the specter of stiff competition from Eastern Europe.
Pakistan on Monday bought 484,700 tonnes of white wheat, sourcing 150,000 tonnes from Russia and 100,000 tonnes from Australia. It bought 84,000 tonnes of US wheat and 150,000 tonnes of optional US, Canadian or Australian origin.
Corn basis offers were higher for August and September positions amid slow farmer selling, and higher barge freight.
Dealers said there was also increased demand for old crop corn. "People are looking for dry old crop corn to blend with new crop from the southern harvest," a dealer said.
The corn harvest is underway in southern states like South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi. The main Midwest harvest begins in earnest in September, traders said.