Corn spot basis bids were steady at elevators and processors around the US Midwest on Wednesday on scattered light farmer sales, dealers said. Basis bids have been supported in recent weeks by thin old-crop supplies and concerns about the impact of dry weather on planted crops. New-crop sales have also been slow but dealers noted an increase in farmers interested in selling on Wednesday.
Grain merchants at a port in Toledo, Ohio, a Mississippi river terminal near Davenport, Iowa, and an elevator in Council Bluffs, Iowa all said farmers sold small amounts of both new-crop and old-crop corn. River corn bids weakened on soft demand at US Gulf terminals, dealers said.
A corn bid fell by 2-1/2 cents per bushel on the Mississippi River and by 1 cent per bushel on the Illinois River as demand slacked off at US Gulf terminals. An ethanol producer temporarily shut a Nebraska plant on Tuesday as diminishing corn supplies and lacklustre gasoline demand hurt profit margins. An ethanol plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa rolled its bid against the September CBOT contract from July. Soyabean basis bids held mostly steady, but slipped at two Iowa locations. A bid fell by 1-1/2 cent per bushel at a Des Moines, Iowa processor and by 7 cents at a Council Bluffs, Iowa elevator.