Corn spot basis bids fell for the fifth straight day at river terminals around the US Midwest on Friday while bids for the grain were also weak at elevators in the region, pressured by an increase in country sales and better supplies in the export pipeline, dealers said.
Corn basis declined 16 cents this week at a terminal on the Illinois River and by 8 cents on the Mississippi, with bids at each location declining slightly on Friday, while the basis plunged to a two-month low in the CIF barge market. Corn export demand remains steady but a more robust stockpile and rising futures has pushed the basis off its historic highs for this time of year at the US Gulf Coast.
Soyabean spot basis bids eased by 1 cent on the Mississippi River but bids for the oilseed were otherwise unchanged. Farmers continued to book spot sales and make new-crop commitments as soya futures rose to a fresh six-month high and corn futures gained modestly, buoyed by a weaker dollar and solid export demand.
Growers busy hauling supplies to market this week ahead of the spring planting season, which could get underway as early as next week. "Everybody is plugged; there's just a lot of supplies hitting the market at the same time," said a corn and soya buyer in northern Ohio.
Growers were also applying the fertiliser anhydrous ammonia or tilling soils. Unseasonably warm weather has the temperature in the dirt above the 50 Fahrenheit (10 Celsius) necessary to promote seed germination in much of the central and southern Midwest. Barge freight costs were steady on Midwest river while shipping is likely to resume next week on portions of the upper Mississippi River, where barge traffic has been seasonally halted.