Corn and soyabean spot basis bids were quietly unchanged at US Midwest processors, elevators and ethanol plants on Friday in light trading after Thursday's US Thanksgiving Day holiday, grain merchants said. Many dealers left offices early following an abbreviated session at the Chicago Board of Trade that saw corn and soyabean futures rise to multi-week highs, bolstered by a weaker dollar.
But little grain was sold at the higher prices, with many growers on the sidelines in the hopes of further gains in prices. Some delivery points were expected to be open this weekend to take in contracted supplies in the final phases of the harvest. Basis bids for each commodity were little changed for the week, with corn shedding 5 cents per bushel on the Illinois River but gaining 4 cents at a rail terminal in Hereford, Texas.
Soya bids also declined on the Illinois River, dropping 13 cents amid looming draft restrictions that could slow or halt traffic on Midwest river points north of St. Louis. Soya bids elsewhere were nearly unchanged for the week. US grain futures rose to multi-week highs on Friday as weakness in the US dollar gave commodities a boost and weekly export sales topped expectations.