Spot hard red winter wheat basis bids in the US Plains were steady to firmer on Thursday, with farmer selling slow, merchants said.
A merchant in Colby, Kansas, firmed the basis 2 cents a bushel, and the basis in Enid, Oklahoma, was 3 cents a bushel firmer.
A slide in futures prices on Wednesday gave farmers further reason to hold onto supplies, some merchants said. Futures at the Kansas City Board of Trade closed sharply lower, with the December at $3.40-3/4, down 5-1/2 cents.
The market was likely to drop further on Thursday, some KCBT traders said, pressured by disappointing US weekly wheat export sales and Egypt's decision overnight to buy 355,000 tonnes of wheat from Argentina and only 60,000 tonnes from the United States.