Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans held steady around the US Midwest on Thursday but some elevators and processors were still short of supplies, grain dealers said. Slow country movement in recent weeks has left dealers searching for both soyabeans and corn at locations around the region.
Farmers have booked light sales of soyabeans for delivery after this fall's harvest but few were committing to delivering any soyabeans in the near term. A processor in eastern Iowa looking to boost its crushing supplies was offering a 4 cent per bushel premium for corn delivered on Saturday.
Few farmers were booking any sales of corn as demand from the ethanol sector led to a bullish attitude on prices despite forecasts for a robust crop this fall. Informa Economics estimated that farmers would plant 90.6 million acres of corn this year, up from an earlier US Agriculture Department estimate of 90.5 million acres.
USDA said on Thursday morning that export sales of soyabeans were 358,900 tonnes (old crop and new crop combined) in the latest reporting week. Analysts were expecting export sales between 150,000 tonnes and 350,000 tonnes.
Export sales of corn were 1.86 million tonnes (old crop and new crop combined), topping forecasts for 1.10 million tonnes to 1.25 million tonnes. Wheat export sales were 394,500 tonnes (old crop and new crop combined), in line with estimates for 250,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes. At the Chicago Board of Trade, July soyabean futures were unchanged at $7.92-3/4. Traders said the market struggled due to overbought technical signals.
CBOT July corn futures contract fell 3 cents to close at $3.73 per bushel due to the estimate for big US plantings. CBOT July wheat futures fell 11-1/4 cents to $4.85-1/2 per bushel on seasonal pressure ahead of the US winter wheat harvest.