US FOB Gulf soyabean basis offers fell for a second day on Friday amid weak export demand and high ocean freight scaring off buyers, traders said. Corn export premiums firmed despite the record high ocean freight. Export sales slowed this week but traders expected buyers to come back in the market.
Hard and soft red winter wheat export premiums held steady but freight did cool fresh sales this week as buyers waited for freight rates to retreat before buying more grain.
Traders were eyeing Morocco's tender next week to buy 500,000 tonnes of soft wheat. While the business would most likely go to Europe or Russia, the sale would further tighten world supplies and indirectly benefit US wheat.
Iraq was expected to be out of the market for the next few weeks after buying at least 400,000 tonnes of US HRW wheat this week. Traders said the business was done at $405 per tonne FOB.
Soyabean basis offers have fallen 2 to 9 cents a bushel this week, with nearby shipment seeing the biggest drop in price. Basis values have also declined in the CIF barge market, partly due to many southern soyabeans being discounted due to damage.
"Damage in southern beans have kept them from wanting to own more paper, unless northern origin was guaranteed," a trader said. China was said to have bought soyabeans for shipment off the Pacific Northwest for December 1-10 loading early in the week but has been quiet in the market in recent days. Few soyabean sales were being made at the Gulf due to freight soaring to $115 per tonne, up from $100 last week.