Corn and soyabean spot basis bids were mostly steady to higher around the US Midwest on Monday as the third straight day of higher futures spurred only a modest increase in country offerings of the commodities, grain merchants said. Corn bids gained 3 cents at a large processor and ethanol plant in Blair, Nebraska, while bids for both corn and soyabeans firmed along the Illinois River.
Traders in the CIF barge market noted a large increase in cash corn sales as prices neared $8 per bushel at the US Gulf. But a slow pace of sales over the last month underpinned the basis, with bids rising 1 to 2 cents for barges this month. Many farmers remain bullish and are holding out for higher prices before selling the remainder of last year's harvest. However, many growers clean out grain storage bins ahead of the spring planting season and the anticipation for an increase in country offerings has capped gains in the basis. Barge freight costs were steady on Midwest rivers.