Slow river barge movement due to low water and congestion at some locks also underpinned basis values, traders said. A section of the Illinois River about 77 miles from its confluence with the Mississippi River remains closed for dredging after three vessels ran aground over the weekend. A dredge vessel is due to arrive on Friday, with work estimated to take about 48 hours, the Army Corps of Engineers said.
A queue of seven vessels heading upriver and 10 heading downriver was waiting to transit the area on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Army Corps. Locking delays at the lower Ohio River's lock 52 are slowing movement of barges from the eastern Midwest, traders said. More than 30 vessels were waiting to pass through the lock on Tuesday, down from more than 80 last week, they said. CIF corn basis bids were narrowly mixed and FOB values were flat to lower on dull demand.
Cash premiums for wheat at the Gulf were quietly unchanged. Egypt's GASC bought 175,000 tonnes of Russian wheat via a snap tender which attracted fewer offers that normal. Prices included risk premiums following a recent trade dispute. No US wheat was offered.
Soya barges loaded in the first half of September traded at 70 cents a bushel above Chicago Board of Trade November futures, up 10 cents from early bids. Full-month September bids were 48 cents over futures. FOB basis offers for October loadings were 70 to 75 cents a bushel over futures. Bids for early September CIF corn barges were up 2 cents at 18 cents above the CBOT December futures contract. Spot FOB offers were about 35 cents over futures.
Copyright Reuters, 2017