Corn spot basis bids surged across the US Midwest on Friday, while soyabean bids were steady to firm, as farmer sales of both commodities remained very light in the wake of last week's collapse in both cash bids and futures, dealers said. Corn basis bids have recovered at least half of their losses from last week and soyabeans a smaller portion of their declines in the basis. But farmers are not interested in selling the remainder of last year's harvest at current prices, with the drop in corn futures to the lowest level in nearly three years chilling selling interest.
Soyabean futures jumped 1 percent in a short-covering bounce in early activity at the Chicago Board of Trade, but the gains were not enough to entice any sales, the dealers said. Corn bids gained as much as 37 cents per bushel at a Nebraska processor, while bids were broadly higher at ethanol plants amid good demand for the grain for coverage in the next few weeks.