Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans eased 1-3 cents per bushel at terminals in Iowa and Illinois along the Mississippi River on Friday, pressured by a spike in barge freight costs and lackluster export demand, grain merchants said. Freight costs gained 10-15 percentage points on US Midwest rivers late on Thursday, eating into profit margins for river grain handlers, as shippers scrambled to secure empty vessels before rising water levels prevented loadings, a barge trader said in a client note.
Waters were forecast to reach minor to moderate flood stage on the Mississippi River at Rock Island, Illinois, over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. But demand for the crops ebbed at the Gulf Coast as international buyers continued to buy corn and soyabeans out of South America, weighing on bids for US supplies.
Basis bids for soft red winter wheat were 5 cents per bushel higher in Ohio, rising in Toledo and Cincinnati, as elevators sought to drum up farmer selling ahead of the harvest that was likely to get underway in June.
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