US FOB Gulf basis offers for corn, soyabeans and HRW wheat strengthened considerably late on Wednesday as soaring freight costs amid the fall harvest scramble continued to underpin domestic prices despite lower prices overseas. SRW wheat basis offers, by contrast, were unchanged at the Gulf but showed signs of strength in the Great Lakes as four-year lows may be uncovering fresh export demand, traders said.
Gulf soyabeans showed the most strength with October offers up 12 cents at 190 cents over CBOT November soya futures; November offers were up 10 cents at 178 cents over futures. The strength in cash markets carried over to corn and soyabean futures, which edged higher after this week's fall to contract lows in futures. Chinese demand continues to underpin soyabean exports. CBOT November soya ended 1/2 cent up at $9.36-3/4 a bushel.
FOB Gulf corn basis offers were up 5 cents for October-November-December positions with October-November at 125 cents over CBOT December corn futures, which ended 4 cents up at $3.29-1/2. HRW wheat values at the Texas Gulf were 5-10 cents higher from October through March, with October at 215 cents over KCBT December futures, closing 2-1/4 cents up at $5.64-1/4. Traders said soaring prices for hopper cars in Texas were the main factor for the strength in cash. The talk was that BNSF rail cars for October were quoted as high as $7,000, compared with $4,000 earlier this week.
Barge freight was also strong - at levels not seen in at least four years - offered at 1,000-1,050 percent of tariff for nearby shipment on Midwest rivers. Cargill won the CCC business for East Africa selling 35,000 tonnes of HRW wheat at $269.83 per tonne for November 20-30 loading; selling 25,000 tonnes of sorghum at $227.50 for October 20-30 shipment; and 43,440 tonnes for November 20-30 loading at $213.60. All to be shipped out of Houston. SRW wheat values were unchanged for O/N/D offered at 160/180/175 cents over CBOT December futures, which ended 4-1/4 cents higher at $4.80-1/4. But January offers rose 5 cents to 165 cents over March futures.
SRW sentiment firmed this week with the Egypt's GASC first purchase in six months. A major exporter, Chicago-based Nideria, also cancelled 230 deliverable CBOT SRW registrations overnight, which was likely to meet export loadings out of the Great Lakes in the next six weeks. Trades also noted more talk about Nigeria shopping for SRW wheat after this week's fresh four-year lows and Egypt's buy. Traders await USDA weekly export sales data on Thursday estimated at (in tonnes): Wheat 350,000-500,000, corn 600,000-900,000, and soyabeans 1.5-2.7 million.