Corn and soyabean spot basis bids held mostly steady around the US Midwest on Friday as slow farmer sales were offset by dull demand from processors, elevators, ethanol plants and river terminals, dealers said. Country sales of each crop slowed to a halt as corn and soyabean futures fell to the lowest levels in more than a week, pressured by plunging wheat prices.
Soya futures trimmed losses to settle modestly higher on Friday, but both soyabeans and corn futures posted their first weekly declines in four weeks, chilling any producer selling interest. Still, soya processors and ethanol plants have dialed back basis bids in recent days due to lacklustre profit margins and poor demand for biofuel and animal feed soyameal. The weaker bids at the end users have also capped bids at commercial grain elevators.
Soya bids on Friday faded 6 cents per bushel at a processing plant in Sioux City, Iowa, while corn bids eased 1 cent at a terminal along the Mississippi River. Bids elsewhere were largely unchanged. Barge freight costs were steady on Midwest rivers while many export traders at the US Gulf were at an industry conference in New Orleans, resulting in a quiet day in the export market.
Egypt's GASC, one of the largest wheat buyers in the world, announced a tender on Friday seeking wheat for April 1-10 shipment. Traders said it was the best chance for US exporters to sell to GASC since the agency last bought supplies from the United States in June. Soft red winter wheat bids were little-changed so far this month in the eastern Midwest in slow seasonal trading of the dormant crop.