US Cash Grains-Corn, soy basis mostly flat amid slow farmer sales

Spot basis bids for corn were flat in the U.S. Midwest on Thursday and soybean bids were steady to mixed a day after Chicago Board of Trade grain futures rose on bullish U.S. government crop data.

• Benchmark CBOT December corn futures CZ26 surged 4.4% on Wednesday, to around $4.81 a bushel, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its forecasts of U.S. old- and new-crop corn ending stocks.
• But the contract remained below its late-July high of $4.92 and its mid-May peak above $5, limiting incentives for fresh farmer selling.
• Some growers were using $5 as a target price to sell new-crop corn, one broker said.

Soybean basis bids held steady at most locations but values had a firm tone this week in the eastern Midwest.

• Various soybean processing plants have been taking routine downtime for maintenance in recent weeks.
• The soybean basis jumped by 20 cents a bushel at an elevator in Lincoln, Nebraska, but a soy processing plant also located in Lincoln left its basis unchanged at 50 cents over CBOT November SX26 soybean futures.
• The soy basis at Davenport, Iowa, on the Mississippi River, fell for a second consecutive day, easing by a nickel to 55 cents under CBOT November futures.
• CBOT corn futures fell on profit-taking by mid-session on Thursday while soybeans SX26 and wheat WU26 were modestly higher.

Basis values are quoted against CBOT futures in cents per bushel. Unchanged bids were reported at several elevators and processors, including Burns Harbor, Indiana, Decatur, Indiana, Des Moines, Iowa, and other listed locations in the Midwest.