Spot basis bids for corn were mostly steady to lower at processors and elevators in the interior US Midwest on Friday while farmers remained reluctant to book crop sales even as Chicago Board of Trade corn futures rallied, dealers said. Producers sold small amounts of old-crop supplies earlier this week, but most waited to see results from the next crop progress report before selling any more crop supplies, a Chicago grain trader said. The US Agriculture Department will release its weekly crop progress and conditions report on Monday.
Spot soyabean bids eased on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, but were mostly flat at elevators and processors. The soyabean bid fell by 5 cents per bushel at a closely watched Decatur, Illinois, processor. A soyabean bid was lower by 3 cents per bushel at an Iowa terminal on the Mississippi River and by 18-1/2 cents per bushel at a terminal on the Illinois River. Steady barge freight rates but softer CIF values helped to pressure soyabean bids on the Illinois River, a grain merchant said.
Water levels are being closely monitored on the Mississippi River as a drop caused by extreme drought conditions has slowed shipments and stalled barge traffic. Water levels were sufficient to continue loading commodities for shipment at a Davenport, Iowa, terminal, a river broker at the location said. Corn bids were mixed on Midwest rivers. A corn bid fell by 4 cents per bushel on the Mississippi River but another rose by 3 cents per bushel on the Illinois River. Temperatures heading north of 100 degrees Fahrenheit and scarce rain promised another blistering weekend for much of the US Midwest, where the most extensive drought since 1956 is devastating crops, evaporating rivers, and threatening to push world food prices higher.
Corn yield potential appears highly variable in west-central Iowa, mirroring the ups and downs of production prospects in the central and eastern areas of the No 1 corn and soya growing state, scouts on a US Midwest crop tour said Friday.
Copyright Reuters, 2012