Corn and soyabean spot basis bids held mostly steady around the US Midwest on Thursday as sales of each commodity were slow amid little-changed futures at the Chicago Board of Trade. Soyabean futures posted a modest gain on Thursday but failed to surpass the five-month high reached on Wednesday, while corn futures edged lower. Farmers are bullish and willing to delay sales until futures bound to new highs.
Corn bids were firm on the Illinois River while soya bids edged lower on the waterway. Most dealers have rolled bids to CBOT May contracts from March contracts, with some locations adjusting their bids modestly during the roll. A Nebraska ethanol plant boosted its bid by 10 cents, compared to the 3/4-cent spread between March and May corn.
Profit-taking pushed US corn and wheat futures lower on Thursday, but declines in wheat were limited by the first sale of US supplies to Iran in about three years and by prospects for more such exports as Western sanctions have forced Tehran to scramble for food supplies. Iran has made a rare purchase of US wheat in an effort to build food stockpiles as the United States and Europe implement tough new sanctions to contain Tehran's nuclear ambitions.