Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans were firmer in most of the US Midwest interior on Tuesday, driven by stalled farmer sales, dealers said. Producers were busy with planting activities, in areas where weather conditions allowed, rather than sales and marketing grain, dealers said.
Processors and elevators improved bids in an effort to entice producers to sell. "It is hard to come by offers," a grain merchant in Kansas said. With a large amount of old-crop grain already sold, farmers wait for even higher prices. Worries about the planting pace increased as rain and wet conditions continue to plague portions of the eastern Midwest.
Wet weather was expected to continue across the eastern Midwest with dry weather in the western Midwest during the next few days, a forecast said. Drier conditions expected later in the week, but then showers were expected in West on Friday and Saturday, the forecast said. River corn bids were narrowly mixed while river soyabean bids were were firm. A merchant on the Illinois River said traffic and loading was steady. Barge sources said there was uncertainty as to when the Mississippi River will open around Natchez, Miss.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, corn futures closed higher on Tuesday as cool and wet weather in the US Midwest slowed corn plantings as well as the emergence of the newly sown crop. CBOT soyabeans also ended higher supported by gains in corn and from slow US soya plantings. CBOT wheat rose, on a number of global weather issues that are affecting wheat output and potential wheat output.