US FOB Gulf soyabean basis offers were steady to firmer after the close on Thursday, with the drop in futures prompting more inquiries for new-crop soyabeans, traders said. FOB corn and wheat offers were mostly steady against a backdrop of lower futures and new contract lows. High waters on interior rivers in the northern Corn Belt are keeping barge traffic halted on the Mississippi River north of St. Louis which is supportive for all basis markets. With inquiries from China for new-crop soyabeans still strong, traders lifted US new-crop basis offers.
September held firm at 180 cents over September futures and October was marked 10 cents higher to 160 cents over November futures. New-crop November offers was up 3 to 127 cents over November futures. The USDA announced more new-crop sales on Thursday of 118,000 tonnes to China and 66,000 tonnes to unknown destinations. USDA also said 60,000 tonnes of old-crop was sold to unknown. CBOT August soya closed 13-3/4 down at $12.32-3/4. November soya ended 10-3/4 lower at $10.93. New-crop commitments accounted for the bulk of last week's export soyabean sales - 526,500 tonnes, with nearly 400,000 booked by China. Old-crop sales were 56,300 tonnes, up 39 percent from the week before.