Corn spot basis bids were firm at river terminals around the US Midwest on Tuesday and mostly steady at interior markets, supported from plunging futures and the continued light country offerings, grain merchants said. Farmer corn sales have been slow in recent weeks as growers began planting what is expected to be the largest corn area since 1944, while the 2.2 percent drop in corn futures further slowed what had already been quiet trade in the cash market.
A relatively thin supply in the export pipeline has supported the corn basis on the river, with corn bids rising 2-1/2 cents on the Illinois River and 1/2 cent on the Mississippi. Barge freight costs were steady. Corn bids were narrowly mixed at rail terminals in the eastern Midwest as increased demand for cheaper feed wheat limits demand for corn, a trader said. Soya bids were firm at elevators in the eastern Midwest but eased at a processor in western Iowa.
Forecasts for cold weather this week has led to some farmers delaying corn plantings in the eastern Corn Belt while farmers in No 1 corn state of Iowa can begin planting on Wednesday and still be covered for replanting costs if their crop is damaged by frost or a freeze.
Drought in major soyabean producers Brazil and Argentina cut their crops more deeply than expected, the US government said in a report that could keep food prices on the rise. But US grains fell as investors across a broad range of commodities bailed out of risk assets, yanking soyabeans back down from an early rise and close to their highest since records were hit in 2008.
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