Spot corn basis bids were steady to lower around the US Midwest on Thursday as early harvested grain flowed to elevators and processors amid reports of massive yields in some areas. Fresh sales of new-crop corn were very limited as US corn futures retreated for a second straight session on Thursday, pressured by the impending harvest of a record crop and a steep drop in wheat futures.
Surging barge freight rates further pressured basis bids at river elevators. Spot freight rates jumped 75 percentage points of tariff on the Mississippi River at St. Louis, 100 points on the Illinois River and 125 points on the lower Ohio River, industry sources said.
Spot soyabean basis bids were also steady to lower on rising supplies of newly harvested beans. Some merchants were shedding more of the steep premiums they have been offering for immediate supplies as the harvest was poised to expand. A processor in the closely watched Decatur, Illinois, market dropped spot soya basis bids by 50 cents per bushel. A Lafayette, Indiana, processor dropped its soyabean basis by 25 cents a bushel. Grain merchants said soyabean sales were spotty as a drop in futures prices to a four-year low discouraged growers from booking fresh sales.