US FOB Gulf soyabean basis offers rose sharply on Monday amid an unseasonal surge in export demand and tight supplies in both export and domestic markets, traders said. Corn export premiums held mostly steady.
Buyers were nervous about US export capacity amid labour problems in Argentina and have bought a few cargoes of US corn despite prices hitting a record high last week. USDA reported on Monday that South Korea bought 216,000 tonnes of US corn. The sale was part of 165,000 tonnes of US corn bought by Nonghyup Feed Inc last week, traders said.
A consortium of Israeli private buyers will tender on Wednesday to buy 64,000 tonnes of US or South American corn, with US corn favoured to win the business due to a backlog of vessel waiting to be loaded with corn in Argentina. Argentina has harvested 31 percent of its corn crop but little has made it to the export market.
Export demand for US wheat has picked up recently due to futures prices retreating from record highs set earlier this year. In addition, Iraq will tender for wheat on Saturday and usually buy at least some US wheat.
Argentina extended the closure of its wheat export registry by pushing back the date that new shipments can leave the country. Traders said further delays in shipments were possible as the government struggles to contain rising domestic food prices.
Soyabean export demand was strong due to shipping delays in Argentina that could affect shipments into early June, traders said. Workers at some Argentine processing plants started a 48-hour strike on Monday over pay but the head of an industry group said production should not be affected.
China bought at least one cargo of US soyabeans for shipment May 25 through June 10, indicating that it could take more than six weeks for Argentina to load the backlog of vessels from the earlier farmer strike, traders said.