Spot basis bids for soyabeans rose at river locations around the US Midwest on Tuesday due to rising demand from exporters at the US Gulf while interior soyabean bids were steady to firm, grain dealers said. Cash bids for corn held steady at both interior and river locations.
Farmers booked light sales of old-crop soyabeans because they feared that futures market activity on Tuesday indicated that prices have topped out, a dealer in western Iowa said. Corn sales were slower as planting delays in areas east of the Mississippi River have made farmers bullish that prices could rally in the coming weeks.
Planting progress was expected to continue to be slow in the eastern Corn Belt this week as more showers were in the forecast. Midwest farmers who plant corn after mid-May risk reduced yields at harvest time. Shipping costs were steady to weaker on Midwest rivers. Barges were bid at 200 percent of tariff on the Mississippi River at St. Louis, unchanged from Monday.
Bids for barges also held steady, at 205 percent of tariff on the lower Ohio River. On the Illinois River, bids for barges fell 5 percentage points to 245 percent of tariff. At the Chicago Board of Trade, the May soyabean futures contract rose 3/4 cent to settle at $11.16 a bushel, supported by tight stocks. The July contract fell 2-1/2 cents to $11.01 a bushel.
CBOT May corn rose 1/2 cent to close at $3.98-1/2 a bushel in a choppy market. CBOT July corn fell 1/4 cent to $4.05-1/4 a bushel. CBOT May wheat rose 3 cents to $5.41-1/2 a bushel, supported by short covering and slow seedings of the spring wheat crop.