Spot basis bids for corn were steady to firm around the interior US Midwest on Thursday as some grain dealers tried to stabilise cash prices. Cash bids for corn fell along rivers as the amount of grain in the pipeline outweighed export demand, an Illinois dealer said.
Spot soyabean bids held mostly steady around the interior but were mixed on rivers. Farmer selling was slow after a sharp downturn in the futures market left cash prices for both corn and soyabeans well below producers' target levels.
Some farmers had expressed a desire in selling before the market opened but interest dried up when futures trading began. "They wished they would have sold this morning," the Illinois dealer said. Interior bids were the strongest in the eastern part of the region, rising by 3 cents per bushel in Chicago because of poor conditions in the field.
Dry and hot weather has made farmers in that area reluctant to commit to any new sales. The US Agriculture Department said on Thursday morning that export sales of corn were 988,400 tonnes (old crop and new crop combined) in the latest reporting week. Analysts had been expecting corn export sales between 500,000 tonnes and 800,000 tonnes.
Soyabean export sales were 390,800 tonnes (old crop and new crop combined), topping forecasts for 100,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes. USDA said export sales of wheat rose 31 percent in the latest week to 541,000 tonnes (old crop only). Analysts' estimates for wheat export sales ranged from 150,000 tonnes to 350,000 tonnes.
Shipping costs were steady to firm on Midwest rivers. Barges traded for between 290 percent of tariff and 300 percent of tariff on the lower Ohio River, up from a range of 285 percent of tariff to 290 percent of tariff on Wednesday. On the Mississippi River at St. Louis, bids for barges rose 20 percentage points to 340 percent of tariff. Barges were bid at 350 percent of tariff on the Illinois River, in line with Wednesday's bids.
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