US FOB soyabean export premiums were firm on Thursday amid a slowdown in farmer selling and exporter demand, traders said. Corn and wheat basis offers were mostly steady with a downturn in grain prices failed to spark fresh export demand.
It was the third straight day that prices for corn, soyabeans and wheat at the Chicago Board of Trade had either risen or dropped sharply in tandem with global financial markets.
The lower prices shut off farmer selling and overall country movement was hampered by severe weather in the Midwest. Several grain elevators in Iowa and Nebraska were shut due to heavy snowfall and not accepting grain deliveries.
There was talk that one exporter has run into problems with several hundred containers of US soyabeans in China. Port authorities are not allowing the soyabeans to be unloaded due to the lack of property phytosanitary certificates, traders said. The delay is forcing the exporter to pay vessel demurrage, they said.
Corn export premiums held steady and were supported by recent sales to South Korea, traders said. Higher corn prices are expected to encourage Brazil to export more corn this year. Brazil's corn exports are expected to surge to 6.5 million tonnes in the 2006/07 crop year, up over 62 percent from 4 million tonnes the previous crop, Brazil's crop supply agency Conab said.