Spot basis bids for corn, soyabeans and wheat were steady at most processors and elevators around the US Midwest on Wednesday amid light farmer selling on the cash market, grain dealers said.
Dealers were unwilling to boost basis bids despite the slow country movement because a rally in corn and soyabean futures pushed cash prices higher. Some farmers booked sales of wheat for delivery in 2008 but spot market sales were slow.
Most farmers had enough money to meet their immediate cash flow needs and were reluctant to sell unless prices rally further. Additionally, dry weather across the eastern Corn Belt has some farmers worried about how big their crops will be in the fall so they did not want to commit to any new sales.
Some farmers have pulled their offers to sell corn at cash prices of $4 per bushel, an Illinois dealer said. Most growers were not even telling dealers the price at which they would sell.
Shipping costs were steady to slightly weaker on Midwest rivers. Barges were bid at 320 percent of tariff on the Illinois River, down from 325 percent of tariff on Tuesday. On the Mississippi River at St. Louis, bids for barges were unchanged at 260 percent of tariff. Bids held steady at 250 percent of tariff on the lower Ohio River, the same level as on Tuesday.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, July corn futures closed 11 cents higher, a gain of 2.8 percent, at $4.04-1/2 per bushel, following a rally in the wheat market amid jitters about dryness in the eastern Corn Belt. CBOT July soyabeans fell 3/4 cent to $8.25-3/4 per bushel, held back by weakness in soyabean oil markets.
CBOT July wheat rose 24-1/2 cents, a gain of 4.3 percent, to close at $5.89-1/2 per bushel on worries about the size of the hard red winter wheat crop and harvest delays in the US Plains.
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