Export premiums for corn shipped from the US Gulf Coast climbed to their highest in about 10 months on Thursday, boosted by expectations for slowed deliveries of corn barges to the gulf, traders said. Ice forming on the Illinois River forced barge operators to reduce tow sizes while wind and fog in Louisiana continued to impede vessel traffic. Parts of the Illinois River could be frozen by next week, potentially halting traffic temporarily.
Meanwhile, a slow pace of farmer sales limited supplies of both corn and soyabeans available to exporters. Firmer offerings of corn in Argentina were expected to make US corn more competitive during the next several weeks, the traders said. "Expectations remain high for US business," a corn export broker said in a note. The US Department of Agriculture will release weekly export sales data on Friday, delayed one day due to Monday's Christmas holiday.
Bids for corn barges loaded in the final days of December were up 1 cent to 38 cents above Chicago Board of Trade March futures, highest in about a month. FOB basis offers for January corn shipments were about 7 cents higher to 60 cents over futures, highest since February. CIF bids for soyabean barges loaded this month were up about 1 cent to 44 cents a bushel over CBOT January futures. FOB Gulf offers for January soyabean shipments were 50 cents over futures.
Bids for soft red winter wheat barges loaded in December were bid steady at 50 cents per bushel over CBOT March futures. FOB Gulf export offers for January shipments were flat at 70 cents over futures. December CIF hard red winter wheat bids were unchanged at 225 cents over the K.C. March contract for 12 percent protein grain. January export offers were quoted around 240 cents over futures.