Corn spot basis bids at elevators, processors and river terminals on Thursday were mostly steady to firmer in the US Midwest as farmer sales diminished, grain merchants said. Bitter cold temperatures in parts of the region disrupted some movement of corn to end-users.
Corn bids at a Seneca, Illinois river elevator rose 5 cents per bushel, sparked by Wednesday's spike in bids for the grain loaded on barges destined for US Gulf Coast shippers. Those bids gained on the possibility that parts of the Illinois River might freeze and impede river traffic, traders said.
A few farmers kept corn close to home while eyeing Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn contracts that dipped on profit-taking and plentiful global supplies. Slow corn movement lifted bids at ethanol pllants in Indiana and Illinois Soyabean spot bids at processors and elevators were steady to higher, helped by the sluggish pace of farmer sales. CBOT soyabean contracts edged downward on Thursday led by more selling in the wake of Wednesday's weaker settlement.