Corn and soyabean spot basis bids were stronger in the US Midwest early on Thursday as grain elevators and processors tried to coax farmers into selling their crops, grain dealers said.
Farmers were tight-fisted with their remaining soyabeans, and corn sales were slowing down. An elevator in eastern Nebraska that had been getting 100 to 150 truckloads of corn a day was down to 50 trucks, a dealer said.
"A lot of guys are holding on to their stuff," said an Ohio dealer.
Storage space continued to be scarce in some places, such as Iowa. However, Ohio elevators with plenty of space to fill firmed bids.
Barge freight dropped again on Wednesday, giving a boost to corn and soyabean river bids. Bids have improved enough on the Illinois River to start attracting sales. Bids remained weak on the Mississippi River at Dubuque, Iowa, especially the soyabean basis, which was hurt by China buying supplies for shipment out of the Pacific Northwest.
The US Department of Agriculture released its weekly export sales data early Thursday. USDA said US weekly export sales for soyabeans were 842,000 tonnes, down 5 percent from the prior week but 21 percent above the prior four-week average. Major buyers were China, which booked 347,200 tonnes, and Indonesia with 128,900 tonnes.
Export sales of corn were 718,400 tonnes, down 26 percent from the prior week and 19 percent under the prior four-week average. The biggest buyers were Taiwan, which bought 133,600 tonnes, Japan 117,900 tonnes and Mexico 109,200 tonnes. Export sales of wheat were 379,400 tonnes, down 4 percent from the prior week and 17 percent under the prior four-week average. Egypt was the biggest buyer with 115,800 tonnes.