soyabean spot basis bids held mostly steady around the US Midwest on Friday as the progressing harvest and modestly higher futures resulted in only light farmer sales of each commodity, grain merchants said. Corn bids eased 1 to 2 cents per bushel in the far western Midwest, where farmers were selling spot loads of corn amid historically high futures and concerns the grain will not retain quality in storage, said an Iowa grain merchant.
But corn bids rose 8 cents in northern Indiana, where rains may keep farmers out of the fields for a day or more. Corn futures also remain near a two-month low and are nearly $1 per bushel lower than the record high notched last month. Some growers are storing new-crop corn on hopes prices rebound after the harvest is complete.
Soyabean bids held steady after heavy losses earlier this week, especially at processing plants, as the harvest began to gain steam. Barge freight was weak on the Mississippi River at St. Louis and steady on the Illinois and lower Ohio rivers. Wheat prices climbed on Friday as Russia's economy minister raised the possibility of grain export curbs by the world's third-largest wheat shipper. Soyabeans rose late, but posted their biggest weekly loss in a year. Corn edged higher, but ended with its largest weekly loss in more than three months.