Corn spot basis bids were steady to higher at river and rail terminals around the US Midwest on Thursday as country offerings of the grain remained light despite the highest futures in three weeks, grain merchants said. Dealers noted a small increase in farmer sales in each of the past two days but the sustained slow pace of selling in the last month continued to underpin the basis.
Bids for corn in the southern US Plains were further supported after snowfall earlier this week reduced animal weight gains at cattle feeding operations, traders said. An expanding premium of CBOT March corn over May capped gains in bids at some locations as dealers slashed bids to offset the rising spread between the two contracts.
Analysts and traders expect little, if any, corn or soyabeans to be delivered against March futures due to tight supplies and good cash demand. Soyabean spot basis bids held mostly steady in slow farmer selling after futures ended the month nearly unchanged.
Barge shipping on the middle Mississippi River returned to normal for the first time since December as rain and snow-melt revived the drought-hit waterway and government engineers completed a two-month riverbed rock removal project.