Soyabean spot basis bids weakened at river terminals around the US Midwest on Monday, pressured by a halt in vessel loadings on the waterways, a spike futures and a seasonally reduced export demand at the US Gulf Coast, dealers said. But bids for the oilseed jumped 10 cents at a closely-watched processor in Decatur, Illinois, while basis bids for corn held mostly steady as the sharp gains in futures failed to entice a significant bounce in farmer sales.
Corn futures posted their largest one-day rise since July while soyabeans were up the most since February as wet weather delayed corn plantings and a weak dollar spurred a broad rally in commodities. Dealers noted scattered farmer sales of old- and new-crop supplies but many growers remained on the sidelines, content to delay sales in the hopes of further gains in futures and basis.
Tuesday is first notice day for deliveries against May contracts for corn and soyabeans. Dealers expected little, if any, deliveries as historically high basis levels make cash markets more attractive than delivering against futures. A closely-watched corn processing plant in Blair, Nebraska, rolled its corn bids to CBOT July futures from May and took the roughly 25-cent spread between the contracts.
Two locks reopened along the Mississippi River in Missouri but many locks remained closed along the middle section of the main export channel to the US Gulf Coast, keeping most vessels anchored and weighing on the bids dealers were willing to buy the grains. Rain around the US Midwest kept farmers out of fields last week matching the slowest corn planting pace ever, government data released on Monday showed.
