Spot corn and soyabean basis bids around the US Midwest were steady to firm on Friday amid slow country movement, while the wheat basis was largely unchanged, cash grain merchants said. Farmer selling slow despite sharply higher Chicago Board of Trade futures values on Friday, which lifted cash prices offered to producers.
Most farmers were focused on progressing harvest and appeared disinterested in booking large sales following the recent steep decline in prices. CBOT wheat fell to a 16-month low this week, corn an 11-month low, soy a 14-month low.
Shipping costs were steady to weaker on Midwest rivers. Bids for barges on the Mississippi River at St. Louis fell to 650 percent of tariff, from trades at 700 to 725 percent of tariff a day earlier. On the Illinois River, spot barge bids held at 600 percent of tariff. Barges traded at 875 percent of tariff on the lower Ohio River, versus trades at 875 to 900 percent on Thursday.