Spot basis bids held mostly steady for US Midwest corn, soyabeans and soft red winter wheat on Monday amid light, scattered sales of each commodity, grain merchants said. Farmers booked small corn and soya sales as futures notched fresh two-year highs early but the sales slowed to a stop as futures drifted lower, with each contract losing more than 1 percent.
The early corn and soyabean sales were for delivery in March through May and for delivery during harvest later this year. A dealer along the Mississippi River in Iowa said some farmers sold so-called "basis-only" contracts for the opening of the river during spring 2012.
Sales of SRW wheat were also light, with many farmers bullish even as CBOT wheat jumped as much as 3 percent on Monday before paring its gains. Many farmers sold large amounts of their 2010, 2011 and 2012 SRW wheat crops when prices rose to two-year highs in August and the growers are waiting for prices to surpass those levels before selling more.
Few processors, elevators, ethanol plants or river terminals were in urgent need of supplies, while many farmers are expected to continue delivering fresh supplies to meet January contracts. Flooding and transportation delays in Australia pushed up wheat futures while wetter and cooler weather in Argentina weighed on corn and soyabeans. Soya bids firmed by 2 cents on the Mississippi River while dealers elsewhere rolled bids to the CBOT March contract from the January. Corn bids fell sharply in Burns Harbour, Indiana, and held mostly steady at other locations. Barge freight costs held steady on Midwest rivers as the recent warm up melted snow and ice, helping to raise water levels on the rivers.
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