Spot basis bids for soyabeans were mostly steady around the US Midwest on Monday but the market had a weak tone due to some light country movement, grain dealers said. Corn bids also were mostly unchanged but a few dealers edged their bids higher to try and pique some interest from farmers that have been holding out for higher prices.
Some farmers booked light sales of old-crop soyabeans to clear out space in their storage bins ahead of this year's harvest, a dealer in western Iowa said. But hot weather around the region deterred some farmers from committing to any new sales. "Even if the price went up, they would not sell any more," dealer in northern Ohio said. "It is just dead here because we need rain."
The US Agriculture Department said that the US corn crop was rated 70 percent good to excellent in the latest week, down from 73 percent last week. Traders had expected the corn ratings to drop 1 to 2 percentage points due to hot weather during the past week.
Soyabeans were rated 65 percent good to excellent. A week ago, soyabeans were rated 68 percent good to excellent. Traders' forecasts had called for a 1 to 2 percentage point drop in soyabean ratings. Barge freight held steady on Monday. Bids for barges were unchanged on the Mississippi River at St. Louis, lower Ohio River and the Illinois River.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, July soyabean futures rose 5-1/4 cents to $8.70 per bushel and August closed 6-1/4 cents higher at $8.75-1/2 per bushel as technical buying pushed most months to contract highs.
CBoT July corn fell 2 cents to $3.32-1/2 per bushel and September fell 2-1/4 cents to $3.39-1/4 per bushel. Forecasts for cooler weather and light rain in the Midwest pressured prices. CBoT July wheat fell 12 cents, a drop of 2 percent, to $5.88-1/2 per bushel while September wheat fell 10-1/2 cents to $5.99-1/2 per bushel.