Corn and soyabean spot basis bids were steady to narrowly mixed around the US Midwest on Friday, with bids pressured at some locations following a spike in sales of each commodity, grain merchants said. CBOT soyabean futures rallied to a four-month high amid growing export demand and news of a record-large purchase by China.
The higher futures triggered farmer sales of soyabeans, with the sales an even mix of old- and new-crop supplies. Old-crop cash soya prices climbed to $12.75 per bushel in Iowa while prices rose to $12.80 in Ohio and nearly $12.50 for new-crop deliveries.
Cash corn prices hit a high of $6.50 per bushel in Iowa, leading the first large spike in corn sales in recent weeks, a dealer there said. Corn and soyabean spot basis bids each faded along the Illinois River, pressured by the higher futures and pickup in sales, while corn bids also eased in Blair, Nebraska, and at an ethanol plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
But corn bids were firm at rail terminals in the eastern Midwest and the southern US Plains, where corn sales were slower and farmers bullish. Soft red winter wheat sales were seasonally slow even as futures gained more than 2 percent. Many farmers are reluctant to sell any new-crop wheat until there is more certainty on production levels of the dormant crop.
Barge freight costs were steady to firm on Midwest waterways. A Chinese trade delegation signed deals to buy a record amount of US soyabeans during a visit to the United States this week at a time when a harsh drought has slashed crops in rival soya exporters in South America. Wheat, corn and soyabean futures advanced ahead of a three-day US holiday weekend on Friday on export demand for all three commodities and optimism about a debt deal for Greece that bolstered risk sentiment.