Spot basis bids for soyabeans and corn were mostly steady to firm at locations around the US Midwest on Thursday amid slow country movement. Most farmers had enough cash on hand from recent sales, so they were reluctant to book new deals, despite sharp rallies in the futures market.
"You think, being up today, you would see some (movement), but there was not really anything," a rail broker said. Although the soyabean basis was mostly steady, bids fell by 5 cents per bushel in north-western Iowa. Some processors were looking to cut the amount of soyabeans they were crushing because the high prices were hurting profit margins.
Some dealers rolled their soyabean and corn basis bids to the Chicago Board of Trade May futures contracts from the March contracts, which are set to expire on March 14.
The US Agriculture Department said on Thursday morning that export sales of corn were 776,100 tonnes (old and new crop) in the latest reporting week. Analysts had been expecting corn export sales between 650,000 and 950,000 tonnes.
Soyabean export sales were 616,200 tonnes (old and new crop), in line with forecasts for 450,000 to 650,000 tonnes. Wheat export sales were 328,600 tonnes (old and new crop), within estimates for 150,000 to 400,000 tonnes.
Shipping costs fell on Midwest rivers. Barges were bid at 450 percent of tariff on the Illinois River, down from 500 percent of tariff on Wednesday. On the Mississippi River at St. Louis, bids for barges fell 55 percentage points to 365 percent of tariff. On the lower Ohio River, barges were bid at 375 percent of tariff, down 5 percentage points from Wednesday's level.