Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans rose at elevators around the US Midwest on Wednesday as weeks of slow selling left some terminals short of supplies. Cash bids for both commodities held steady at most processors around the region, grain dealers said.
Farmer selling was slow again on Wednesday as strength in the futures market buoyed growers' hopes that prices will rebound to highs hit earlier in the year. Few farmers were willing to sell at current price levels, a dealer in western Iowa said.
Shipping costs rose on Midwest rivers, leaving grain dealers there with less money to offer farmers for their crops. Basis bids fell at most river terminals. Barges were bid at 425 percent of tariff on the Mississippi River at St. Louis, up from 350 percent of tariff on Tuesday. On the Illinois River, barges were bid at 525 percent of tariff, a 75 percentage point increase from Tuesday.
Bids for barges rose 10 percentage points to 400 percent of tariff on the lower Ohio River. Although basis bids were mostly lower at river terminals, soyabean bids rose by 8-1/2 cents per bushel at a location along the Illinois River.
Chicago Board of Trade corn and soyabean markets rose on Wednesday, boosted by fund buying as well as higher gold and crude oil prices, traders said. May soyabean futures rose 45 cents, a 3.4 percent gain, to close at $13.52 per bushel while May corn futures ended 7-1/2 cents higher at $5.52-1/4 per bushel. CBOT May wheat futures fell 34-1/2 cents, a 3.2 percent drop, to close at $10.33 a bushel. Traders said US wheat was seen as overpriced on the world market.