Soyabean basis bids at US Midwest river terminals were steady to sharply lower on Wednesday as prices lost ground in the CIF barge export market and as farmers continued to harvest a record-large crop, dealers said. Soya river bids eased 8 to 10 cents per bushel along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers while bids also decreased 4 cents in the barge market, adding to steep losses seen in recent days as the export pipeline filled with freshly harvested supplies.
Shipping costs on the rivers steadied after surging on Tuesday amid an ebb in demand for empty vessels. "It just doesn't seem like shippers need anything extra currently," a barge source said. Corn spot basis bids were up slightly. An elevator in Toledo, Ohio, boosted its corn bid by 5 cents one day after dropping the bid by that amount, and an Illinois river port lifted its basis by 2 cents per bushel. Corn bids were supported by a slow pace of farmer sales over the past several weeks as well as good export demand.