Spot basis bids for corn were steady to firm on Monday after weeks of slow farmer selling left some dealers searching for supplies while soyabean bids were mostly unchanged. Farmer selling of both corn and soyabeans was slow again on Monday as cash prices were well below growers' target prices.
Some growers were booking light sales of winter wheat as they finished up their harvest, an Illinois dealer said. Although the soyabean basis was mostly steady, bids fell by 10 cents per bushel in central Illinois. Soya bids rose by 5 cents per bushel in western Iowa.
The US Agriculture Department said on Monday afternoon that the corn crop was rated 66 percent good to excellent, up from 65 percent last week. Traders had been expecting corn ratings to hold steady or rise 1 percentage point this week. The soyabean crop was rated 62 percent good to excellent, up from 61 percent last week and in line with forecasts that ratings would be steady to up 1 percentage point.
Spring wheat was rated 60 percent good to excellent, down from 63 percent last week. Traders had expected spring wheat ratings to be down about 2 percentage points. Shipping costs were steady to weak on Midwest rivers. Barges were bid at 350 percent of tariff on the lower Ohio River, down 10 percentage points from Friday's bids.
On the Mississippi River at St. Louis, barges were bid at 375 percent of tariff, down from 380 percent of tariff on Friday. Bids for barges held steady at to 490 percent of tariff on the Illinois River. At the Chicago Board of Trade, September corn futures rose 4-3/4 cents to $5.82 per bushel on outlooks for hotter weather in the US Midwest.
August soyabean futures closed 1-1/2 cents higher at $14.00-1/4 a bushel while the November contract settled 9-1/2 cents higher at $13.96 a bushel on outlooks for hot weather in key growing areas during the crop's key crucial setting phase. CBOT September wheat fell 13-1/4 cents to $7.97-3/4 a bushel on technical selling and profit taking.