US Gulf FOB corn basis levels were steady to slightly weaker Monday on a slight pickup in country movement, and soyabean basis offers were mostly steady, traders said. Nearby hard red winter wheat FOB values were firmer as some exporters bid up for high quality supplies, but no trading was reported.
Limp demand at the Gulf kept barge freight values under pressure. Barges for this week at St. Louis were bid at 205 percent of tariff, down from 235 percent Friday, and offered at 215 percent compared with 250 percent Friday.
Some corn and soyabean movement was noted in the northern Midwest where the final stages of harvest are progressing between bouts of wet weather.
There was also some corn movement along the Illinois River, traders said, which put pressure on nearby FOB corn basis values.
But trading was very quiet in all the FOB markets, traders said.
Traders said they continued to watch developments in the discovery of Asian soya rust disease in the US Southeast.
The contagious fungus, which clashes crop production, has spread to Arkansas, the first major US soyabean-producing state to be infected, state officials said on Monday.
Arkansas is the sixth US state to be infected with the disease which was discovered in the mainland United States less than two weeks ago.