Spot basis offers for corn and soyabeans were steady to firm at most locations around the US Midwest on Thursday, grain dealers said. Sales of both soyabeans and corn were slow on the cash market as many farmers had bullish expectations about prices for their old-crop supplies.
Some farmers were locking in prices of around $10 per bushel for soyabeans they will deliver to elevators and processors after harvest, a dealer in eastern Iowa said. Damp field conditions in some areas east of the Mississippi River was still causing planting delays, a dealer in Illinois said. Soyabean bids rose by 6-1/2 cents a bushel at a river terminal along the Illinois River.
In northern Ohio, bids for soft red winter wheat rose by 15 cents a bushel. Wet conditions in that area have hurt the maturation of the winter wheat crop. The US Agriculture Department said on Thursday that export sales of corn were 822,000 tonnes (683,400 tonnes old-crop) in the latest reporting week. Analysts had been expecting corn export sales between 850,000 and 1.1 million tonnes. Soyabean export sales were 1.37 million tonnes (700,600 tonnes old-crop), topping forecasts for 650,000 to 800,000 tonnes.
Export sales of wheat were 563,500 tonnes (20,200 tonnes old-crop), topping forecasts for 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes. Shipping costs held steady on the Mississippi River at St. Louis and the lower Ohio River but bids for barges rose 20 percentage points, to 285 percent of tariff, on the Illinois River.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, the July soyabean futures contract rose 6 cents to $11.75 a bushel, the soyabean market's highest close since late September. A tight stocks situation and strong export demand supported prices but gains were limited by some profit taking, traders said. CBOT July corn ended 2 cents lower at $4.24 per bushel, retreating from a 6-1/2 month high as better planting weather in the Midwest pressured the market. CBOT July wheat fell 4-1/4 cents to $5.93-1/2 a bushel on profit-taking following a rally to a 3-1/2 month high.