Spot corn and soyabean basis bids were steady to firmer around the interior US Midwest on Thursday, underpinned by a lack of farmer selling and lower futures values, cash grain merchants said. Interior wheat basis was mostly steady.
Soyabean basis at Midwest river locations was firm amid strong CIF barge values, but corn bids along rivers were softer due to rising barge freight, river dealers said. Several dealers rolled corn and wheat bids on Thursday to December Chicago Board of Trade futures from September and rolled soyabean bids to the November contract from September.
Farmer selling of corn and soyabeans remained very slow, as it has been much of this week. Some farmers that still have old crop supplies to sell appeared to be waiting for prices to increase before booking further sales. Others were marketing old crop supplies more cautiously amid an uncertain outlook for the new crop.
Recent dry weather around the Corn Belt, the worst of it in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, had cast doubt on new crop yield prospects and prompted more bullish price outlooks. Parts of Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois received beneficial rains on Wednesday and Thursday, but storm clouds were diminishing on Thursday afternoon as the system passed into Indiana, forecasters said. Barge freight costs was steady to firmer on Thursday on Midwest rivers, a barge broker said.
Spot barges on the Mississippi River at St. Louis were bid 575 percent of tariff, up 10 points from Wednesday. On the Illinois River, spot barges traded at 580 to 590 percent of tariff, up from trades at 575 a day earlier. Spot barges on the lower Ohio River were bid 525 percent of tariff, unchanged from Wednesday. CBOT traders said corn and soyabean futures fell on Thursday due to heavier-than-expected rainfall in key crop producing areas of the Corn Belt. Falling crude oil and a rebound in the US dollar added pressure. September soyabeans closed 15-1/2 cents lower at $13.32-1/2 per bushel and November was off 24 cents at $13.24.