US FOB Gulf corn basis offers were firm on Tuesday, while soyabeans were higher for May/June as processors competed with shippers for limited supplies.
Dealers said May soft red winter wheat basis offers were lower, while hard red winter wheat was steady. Sentiment was weighed by Egypt cancelling its tender, citing high prices.
Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) had sought to buy 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes of wheat from the United States, Australia and France for June 16-30 shipment.
Dealers said Australia offered its soft white wheat at $164.40 a tonne on a FOB basis, which excludes shipping costs, and its hard wheat at $168.40 a tonne.
The best US offer for soft white wheat was $164.71/tonne FOB, soft red winter wheat at $153.74 and hard red winter wheat at $169.05. French soft wheat was offered at $184.98/tonne.
GASC set the tender on Monday after CBOT July wheat ended 17-3/4 cents lower at $3.85-1/4 a bushel. On Tuesday, the contract fell another 6-1/4 cents to $3.79.
"I feel that they (Egypt) want the Australian prices to go lower," one dealer speculated. "I expect them back soon."
Meanwhile, the USDA has not confirmed the sale of 100,000 tonnes of wheat to Iraq by Cargill Inc, which was announced by the Iraqi Grain Board on Saturday. This has sparked speculation that Cargill could have sold eastern European wheat to Baghdad because of lower freight costs.
A US company that sells 100,000 tonnes of wheat or more in a single day to a sole buyer must report the transaction to the USDA by the next business day.
Cargill declined to comment.
Corn basis offers were firm, with May gaining 1 cent a bushel as farmer selling remained slow.
Dealers said recent declines in CBOT corn futures have slashed prices farmers were getting for their corn. "They had been getting 30 cents more (a bushel)," one dealer said.
He said supplies in the hands of shippers were sufficient to cover loadings at the Gulf at the moment.
Dealers were expecting export demand to pick up following Monday sharp break in CBOT futures and Tuesday's flat finish.
Soybeans were higher for May/June positions amid tight supplies, and as domestic processors competed with shippers to secure remaining supplies of old crop soyabeans.
Dealers said processors were bidding 2 to 4 cents a bushel higher in interior markets, causing prices in the CIF barge and FOB export markets to strengthen.
There was continued talk of China cancelling some of its purchases of South American soyabeans due to poor crush margins, but it could not be independently confirmed.
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