Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans were mostly steady around the US Midwest on Wednesday amid slow country movement from farmers accustomed to higher cash prices, grain dealers said. Most farmers had enough money on hand from sales earlier this year and were unwilling to let go of more grain at current price levels.
Some dealers had expected farmers to lower their target prices after a downturn in the futures market earlier this week. A few grain dealers even posted protection of 5 cents per bushel on corn and soyabeans on Wednesday morning because they expected prices to fall sharply again after some scattered showers around the eastern Corn Belt earlier in the week.
But a rebound in soyabean and wheat futures buoyed farmers' expectations that prices could rally again, chilling any possible selling interest. Farmers have been particularly bullish about corn prices the past few months because of rising demand from the ethanol market.
Shipping costs were steady to slightly firmer on Midwest rivers. Barges traded for 350 percent of tariff on the Illinois River, the same level as on Tuesday. On the Mississippi River at St. Louis, bids for barges rose 10 percentage points to 320 percent of tariff. Barges were bid at 280 percent of tariff on the lower Ohio River, up from 275 percent of tariff on Tuesday.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, July corn futures fell 1-3/4 cents to $3.94-1/4 per bushel. CBOT July soyabeans rose 10 cents to $8.39 per bushel due to short covering and buying by mutual funds. CBOT July wheat rose 24 cents, a gain of 4.1 percent, to $6.05 per bushel on worries about the global wheat supply.
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