Corn spot basis bids were steady to higher across the US Midwest on Thursday as futures declined the 10th straight session for the longest losing streak in nearly six years, chilling the already lackluster selling interest from farmers, grain merchants said.
Demand from processors, ethanol plants and exporters remained light but the basis was supported by the very slow movement from both farmers and commercial elevators. Corn bids gained at a river terminal along the mid-Mississippi; a rail terminal in Hereford, Texas, and at a sweetener maker near Chicago. However, the basis faded 2 cents along the Illinois River. Soyabean spot basis bids were largely unchanged amid slow farmer selling and reduced demand for soyameal and export.
Barge freight costs gained 5 percentage points on the lower Ohio River and were steady on the Mississippi at St. Louis and the Illinois rivers. Improving profit margins led Valero Energy Corp to restart its ethanol plant in Albion, Nebraska, while the company's facilities in Linden, Indiana, and Bloomingburg, Ohio, remained idled, a company spokesman said.