Corn export premiums stagnant at US Gulf Coast

Export premiums for corn at the US Gulf Coast were stagnant on Friday as demand remained lacklustre, traders said. Spot CIF basis bids and FOB basis offers were little changed from late Thursday, traders said. Export markets remained quiet, with many people on vacation or working shortened hours because of the holidays, traders said.
The CBOT and many elevators will be closed on Monday for the start of the new year. Traders were watching weather in South America as dryness threatens corn output, although several said it was too early to get overly concerned about crop losses. Forecasts look dry for the next 10 days, meteorologists said. FOB wheat basis offers at the US Gulf Coast were mostly steady due to slow demand.
Weekly corn export sales dropped to a six-week low of 345,200 tonnes last week as prices jumped to a five-week high, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Wheat sales last week reached a four-week high of 431,200 tonnes but were still not overly impressive, traders said. Soyabean sales last week were down 9 percent from the previous week at 663,200 tonnes, according to USDA data. That was decent, considering it was a holiday week, a trader said. Analyst UkrAgroConsult cut its forecast for Ukraine's 2011/12 wheat exports to 7.6 million tonnes from the previous estimate of 9.7 million tonnes, it said on Friday. Still, the United States faces stiff competition for wheat export business, traders said.